LSG vs MI: Krunal Pandya gets retired hurt after shepherding Lucknow’s innings

Lucknow Super Giants captain Krunal Pandya got retired hurt during the ongoing match 63 of the IPL 2023 between Lucknow Super Giants and Mumbai Indians at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow.

Pandya was batting well and was playing a pure captain’s knock in the middle as he was unbeaten on 49* off 42 balls putting on a brilliant 82-run stand off 59 balls with Marcus Stoinis for the fourth wicket.

However, the LSG captain was struggling with cramps in the middle and hence couldn’t run well. As a result, he decided to get retired hurt after 16 overs with Lucknow at 117/3. 

Earlier during the match, Lucknow didn’t get off to the best of the starts after being put into bat first by Mumbai Indians. Jason Beherendorff dazzled with the new ball for Mumbai as he picked up two wickets in the second over of LSG’s innings. 

The left-arm seamer first dismissed Deepak Hooda (5 off 7) who tried to go big and got caught at long-on. Behrendorff further dismissed Lucknow’s last match hero, Prerak Mankad for a golden duck making him edge the ball straight to Ishan Kishan behind the stumps.

Piyush Chawla joined the party in the seventh over and dismissed Quinton de Kock on the first ball itself, who also edged the ball to Kishan. However, despite three early blows, Lucknow came back into the game with a massive partnership between Pandya and Marcus Stoinis.

Following, the retirement of Pandya, Stoinis took it upon himself to take his team to a massive score clobbering MI bowlers all around the ground. He played a scintillating innings of 89* off 47 balls smashing four fours and eight sixes in his innings. Lucknow were 123/3 after 17 overs with Stoinis on 45 off 35. 

The Australian all-rounder quickly shifted gears and smacked Chris Jordan for 24 runs in the 18th over. Courtesy of his knock, LSG posted 177/3 in their allotted 20 overs.