Live Blog - LSG ahead but thrilling finish on the cards

He has a wide-ball plan. All four fielders are on the off side. Hardik stays in the crease and flays the missed yorker over extra cover. Ball two is a yorker at the stumps with deep midwicket out. Two taken. Hardik finds deep square leg on the third ball but doesn't take the run. 14 needed off 3.

And Avesh effectively closes the game with a full ball on fourth stump. Hardik inside edges a slog onto his boot. Dot ball. No extras is all that's needed and Avesh does bowl two legal balls. LSG continue their dominance against MI, get their sixth win in seven games.

MI were behind the rate, but with wickets in hand and big hitters to come, they were never out of it. But SKY fell at the start of the death overs and Tilak failed to take off. LSG's death bowling isn't the strongest, but Digvesh Rathi, Shardul Thakur and Avesh Khan closed things out nicely.

That's the first for IPL 2025. Tilak Varma made 25 off 24 balls but could not get going tonight. The call comes in with MI needing 24 off 7. It was 29 needed off two overs but Thakur bowled yorkers - full and wide - to keep Hardik and Tilak quiet. Santner comes in and pulls the last ball for two. Avesh has 22 to defend in the last over but will have only four fielders out as LSG are behind the clock.

Pant saved an over of mystery/leggie Digvesh Rathi for the death and an 11-run over with 40 needed off three isn't too bad. The idea was to deny Hardik room and it worked for the most part, but there is a swept four and a couple of twos which keeps MI hanging.

Six wickets to go still but that's a massive wicket. Avesh gets it by bowling super wide. SKY pre-meditated the sweep, took a huge stride across and went through with the lap sweep. He made decent contact and fell over but couldn't get it fine enough, deep square leg runs right and catches it. Don't think that was how Avesh thought he'd be getting SKY out while bowling that ball but he'll take that.

The first is a run-out opportunity missed on the last ball of the 15th over. The ball went to short fine leg, SKY stopped after taking a couple of steps but Tilak took off. It was the non-striker's call and SKY scampered before diving into the ground like it was into the swimming pool. Must've hurt. But the throw was off-target.

Then, there's a tough chance to Akash Deep at deep point that doesn't carry despite him running and diving forward. Oh wait, it actually carried but Akash couldn't hold onto the low catch. He seems to have hurt his fingers and leaves the field. SKY sweeps a wide ball remarkably fine to snatch nine off the over. 52 needed off 24.

He came into the tournament out of form but is getting back up there now. A 31-ball fifty with style but not extravagance. Just the one six but seven fours and a lot of them along the ground. Even the shot that gets him there, a deft touch past short third, shows that he is prioritising control.

MI need 71 off the last six and ESPNcricinfo's win probability currently gives MI 34% but with SKY set and seven wickets in hand, it might be closer than that.

Two boundaries were hit during the tenth over with the same principle being applied - avoid the fielders. The long boundary was on SKY's leg side. That's where Bishnoi was trying to get SKY to hit to. But the fielder was at deep square leg, what SKY did was get inside the line and crouch to pull the ball over short fine leg. On the last ball of the over, Bishnoi went wide and full to the left-hander, so Tilak gets on one knee and sweeps straight over the bowler for a one-bounce four. In between was a throwback to the last decade with four singles. In total, 12 runs were scored with the asking rate at 10.5 with little risk.

In the next over, bowled by Avesh Khan, SKY does the same thing even better. Laces a square drive first, then sees cover open and nails one along the ground. High elbows that stay put for the photographers after the shot, MI just knock a couple of singles and stay abreast of the asking rate. The pitch, by the way, isn't offering much to the bowlers.

Well, actually, it's a sign-off celebration but done from a distance. It's a mystery spinner's dismissal too. The release was from the front of the hand, like with a carrom ball, but the seam was pointing towards point. Naman plays for the legbreak but the slightly short ball comes in after landing around fourth stump and goes between the big gap between bat and pad as Naman tried flicking it off the back foot.

There is no filter for comfort on Statsguru, but in the world of eye tests, it can't be missed. Akash Deep bowled two reasonably good slower balls in the seventh over but both come off the pitch nicely and were hit to the boundary.

The first was a staple in the middle overs, shortish and in the channel, Naman walks towards it and pulls it in front of square leg. Two balls later, it's time for the back-of-hand slower ball, SKY this time drives it on the up and over mid-off to bring up the fifty partnership. It brings about a change in LSG's bowling, Ravi Bishnoi - the impact player replacing Mitch Marsh, is brought on by LSG.

In the impact-player era, losing a couple of early wickets doesn't put batters into their shells as is. With the target above 200, there's less reason to do so. And Naman Dhir demonstrates it with utmost stillness. He's not pre-meditating one bit, just waiting for the ball and reacting.

There's a launch over mid-off to a length ball in the channel and pulls to balls from top of middle to down leg. His first 30 runs come off 9 balls and MI's fifty comes up in five overs.

Akash Deep's last T20 was during last year's IPL. He's back after a three-month injury break and picks up Will Jacks in the first over of his spell. What's more, Shardul gets Ryan Rickelton next over in the same manner.

The ploy was to bowl to the bigger boundary, which for both batters was on the leg side. There was a deep-backward square leg and the bowlers bowled at the body. The batters tried helping the ball with flicks but went aerial and found the fielders. Not bowlers' wickets so to speak but LSG would take them.

The focus before the game at this stadium was how the spinners would go, but pacers going slow has been what's effective so far. ESPNcricinfo's ball-by-ball logs show that MI's quicks bowled 24 slower balls in the first innings and got 6 for 30.

LSG have started with Shardul Thakur, who will look for swing first up, but when will the variations come in, and will they be as effective for LSG as they were for MI?

Half-centuries from Aiden Markram and Mitchell Marsh helped Lucknow Super Giants put on 203 for 8 on a black-soil Ekana Stadium pitch against Mumbai Indians. Captain Hardik Pandya took a five-for for the visitors after winning the toss and choosing to bowl.

Marsh survived a caught-behind chance in the first over of the game. But Trent Boult and his team-mates didn't hear it, and the opener capitalised in a 69-run powerplay where he hit nine fours and two sixes.

The introduction of left-arm wristspinner Vignesh Puthur accounted for Marsh before a slower bouncer from Hardik reduced the in-form Nicholas Pooran's promising start to a cameo. Rishabh Pant's lack of form continued as he, too, fell to a slower bouncer from Hardik.

After going on the attack during Pant's stay, Markram went back to playing second-fiddle with Ayush Badoni's entry. Badoni bought some time but got going later on to post 30 off 19 balls. He was out caught behind playing the scoop a ball before the death overs began. LSG made 90 for 4 in the middle overs.

Markram reached his fifty off 34 balls but it was off the 98th ball of the innings. He fell to Hardik, who bowled two overs at the death in Jasprit Bumrah's absence. A couple of boundaries from David Miller in the final over took LSG past the 200-mark before Hardik helped himself to two wickets to complete a five-for.

With no Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik takes it upon himself to bowl the final over. Miller goes for a shot a ball, mistimes a slog first up, he connects next ball to send it sailing over long-on. Hardik changes his length, not line, but Miller latches onto the short ball with a pull.

The MI captain stages a comeback though, first by having Miller caught slogging to deep midwicket and then Akash Deep caught cutting to deep point, to complete a five-for. Avesh snatches a couple off the final ball and LSG finish with 203 for 8.

Death overs are unpredictable and variety is a great tool to have. Not today though, not for Hardik at least. All his deliveries in the 18th over to Miller and Markram are to one side. To Miller, it's the leg side, and to Markram it's the off side. The field was packed on one side too, so the batters could predict it.

Markram slapped a wide, length ball and found cover point. The next time, he went aerial but flat-batted the slower ball to long-off. He falls for a 38-ball 53. Hardik, though, bowls a bumper at the body of the right-handed Abdul Samad to finish, ends up conceding a boundary. But he'll be happy with 3 for 21.

Badoni brings up the landmark, that he shared with Markram, with a pre-meditated scoop off Ashwani. It was picked from outside off and the same shot was attempted next ball, the bowler went even wider with a sharper angle that created the edge to the keeper. But a 19-ball 30 is a recovery after a slow start for Badoni.

Markram reaches his fifty in the next over. The fact that he's played only 34 of the 99 balls so far shows he's played second fiddle for the most part. At the start, with Marsh and then with Badoni, who played himself in. Markram did take off when Pant was in, he'll have more opportunities to do the same as the death overs have begun, with LSG well placed at 165 for 4.

Three boundaries off the 14th and it was a case of the batter being one taking initiative and being one step ahead of the bowler. Badoni starts by dancing down and going inside out over cover, so Santner went quicker, what does Badoni do? Open up the leg side with a sweep. He then rocks back and carves the slowish short ball through point. Fifteen off the over, Santner finishes with 0 for 46 off his quota, his most expensive figures in the IPL

Badoni is helped by fortune in surviving an lbw review on 11.3. He went across the stumps and missed a sweep in front of all three. But his stride forward was so big that the point at which ball hit pad was above 2.5 metres from the stumps. In that case, the on-field decision stands.

The thing with Hawk-Eye is there are predictions involved. So, the ball-tracking actually traces the path of the ball from the point of release till it hits pad. But from there, the cameras project where the ball would go based on the ball's bounce and direction. The accuracy of the prediction reduces if the distance it needs to cover increases. Hence, the 2.5 metre rule.

Puthur continues the good work the next over, gives away just seven. Badoni is 6 off 9. He needs a move on as LSG take an early timeout.

Hardik Pandya needed just two balls to dismiss LSG's best batter so far this season. Both of them were slower balls. The first was wide and guided to the sweeper in the deep. Don't think Pooran expected another one. He swivelled and leapt a touch too early to a 121ks bouncer that angled away over off stump. It was around head-height and Pooran wanted to hit it into the ground but couldn't ride the bounce. The ball lobbed straight to Chahar at short fine leg. LSG 91 for 2 in 8.5

Two key wickets but LSG are still hurtling, not the worst entry point for captain Rishabh Pant, who will want to play himself into form. But will facing spin first up hinder him?

Well, it is turn that keeps Pant's stay short, but it's off the bowling of Pandya. Pant was trying to play himself in, happy to defend and work the ball early. He was on 1 off 5 and tried to tuck a harmless-looking back-of-length ball at the body to deep square leg. All fielders on the deep were on the leg side, but the lack of pace deceived him. Catch taken by mid-off running in and Pandya roars. The run rate is now under 10.

A caught and bowled against the run of play. Not particularly a wicket-taking ball. Was a loopy 83kph ball that landed well outside leg stump, Marsh backed away to get behind the ball and drive it down the ground. Just wanted a single, but played it a touch too early. A low catch for Puthur, who is delighted to break the 77-run stand.

Nicholas Pooran is in blazing form and he shows that against a favourable match-up. He defended the first ball he faced off Santner, the left-arm spinner turning the ball into the left-hander, before taking him on with a slog sweep and a slash down the ground. LSG's run rate is 11 after eight overs.

Seven fours and two sixes. He's been dismissive off the front foot, happy to walk down to Boult and launch him down. He pulled and cut Santner, and now he's meddling with Ashwani's lines and lengths.

Ashwani starts by keeping the stumps in play, Marsh goes down the ground with a drive and then pulls one behind square. When the ball was angled across, it was thrashed through cover. A slower ball created a mistimed shot on the fourth ball but another attempt on the sixth ball ended up being a low full toss. The missed yorker was pushed down the ground to end a wicketless, 69-run powerplay.

Ashwani Kumar impressed on debut with a four-for and his lengths to start his second game were excellent. He got a back-of-length ball to jag back and rise to hit Marsh on his hands. He goes for just three off his first.

Mitchell Santner had dismissed Aiden Markram once in six balls and Marsh twice in 85 balls in T20s. But with Marsh on song, would it have been better to have introduced Mujeeb Ur Rahman, who has dismissed Marsh twice in three innings in 13 balls?

Trent Boult had given away 53 runs and has never gotten Mitchell Marsh in T20s. He started the game with Test-match lengths, erring on the fuller side and bringing the ball back into the right hander. It worked but also... didn't.

Marsh nailed a drive down the ground off the third ball and went for a cover drive next ball. There was a gap between bat and pad, the noise at the stadium might have drowned the sound from the edge. There was no appeal from MI. It was only when Ultra-Edge was shown on the big screen that Boult and Co realised there was an edge.

Marsh cashes in and gets off to a flier. He smashes boundaries off Deepak Chahar on both sides of the wicket, and off full and short lengths. He then camps on the front foot to Boult and lofts a six over mid-off. LSG are up and away.

Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Hardik Pandya won the toss and chose to bowl against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow. The big news is that Rohit Sharma got hit in the knee in nets and he misses out. Raj Bawa, who was India's highest run-getter in the Under 19 World Cup in 2022, replaces him. When asked for an update on Jasprit Bumrah's fitness, Hardik deadbatted the question by saying, "he should be back soon."

MI's captain said that it looks like a fresh wicket with dew potentially coming in later, which is why he's bowling first. The game has moved from pitch No. 4 (red soil) to pitch No. 6 (black soil), and Daren Ganga said that it could lead to lower bounce and spinners getting a bit more turn, but Hardik said the team did not want to talk about the surfaces before the game.

Rishabh Pant acknowledged that he has has not hit form early in the tournament but noted that, "it's a long tournament and once I get the start, I know how to capitalise [on] it. Akash Deep is set to make his debut for LSG. He has recovered from a back injury that kept him out of action since December 2024. M Siddharth had to make way for the pacer.

Lucknow Super Giants: Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram Nicholas Pooran, Rishabh Pant (capt, wk), Ayush Badoni, David Miller, Abdul Samad, Shardul Thakur, Digvesh Rathi, Akash Deep, Avesh Khan

Impact Subs: Ravi Bishnoi, Prince Yadav, Shahbaz Ahmed, M Siddarth, Akash Singh

Mumbai Indians: Will Jacks, Ryan Rickelton (wk), Naman Dhir, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya (capt), Raj Bawa, Mitchell Santner, Deepak Chahar, Trent Boult, Ashwani Kumar, Vignesh Puthur

Impact Subs: Tilak Varma, Corbin Bosch, Robin Minz, Satyanarayana Raju, Karn Sharma

This game is going to be played on a black-soil pitch after a red-soil pitch for LSG's game against Punjab Kings didn't impress mentor Zaheer Khan. So, the conditions will favour the spinners and teams batting second. Since 2024, teams batting second have won five of the eight games. The average score batting first has been 181 for 6. Pacers have gone at an ecomomy of 9.3 but have averaged 28.6 as compared to spinners, who have gone at an economy of 8.3 but averaged 34.6. Spin aside, Akash Deep's availability will boost LSG. In fact, he's marking his run-up.