Mumbai Indians' captain Hardik Pandya showcased exceptional leadership by claiming five wickets against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) during an Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 match held at the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium on Friday. In the 16th match of the 18th season of this lucrative league, Hardik dismissed Nicholas Pooran, Rishabh Pant, Aiden Markram, David Miller, and Akash Deep.

With figures of 5/36, Hardik achieved his best performance in T20 cricket, surpassing his previous record of 4/16 against New Zealand in Ahmedabad in 2023. Notably, he became the first captain in IPL history to secure a five-wicket haul.

Currently, Hardik Pandya ranks second to Shane Warne for the most wickets taken by a captain in IPL history, with Warne having taken 57 wickets while Pandya has accumulated 30.

The Lucknow Super Giants started strong, with Mitchell Marsh providing an explosive opening by scoring 60 runs off 31 balls. However, Vignesh Puthur's dismissal of Marsh allowed the Mumbai Indians to regain control over the scoring.

Hardik entered the bowling attack in the ninth over and quickly made an impact by removing the dangerous Nicholas Pooran, followed shortly by the dismissal of LSG captain Rishabh Pant.

During the mid-innings break, LSG batter David Miller praised Hardik's bowling skills, noting his speed and effective variations.

“He is a good bowler. He is a little bit quicker than you think. He has got good variations, he holds the length really really well. He bowled really well tonight. Hopefully, one of our bowlers could do the same,” Miller remarked in an interview.

Lucknow Super Giants post 203/8

In their designated 20 overs, LSG managed to score 203 runs for the loss of 8 wickets after being invited to bat first. Contributions from Mitchell Marsh and Aiden Markram, who scored 60 and 53 runs respectively, were instrumental in helping the Lucknow-based team surpass the 200-run mark.

Unfortunately, LSG captain Rishabh Pant once again fell short, managing only 2 runs off 6 deliveries. This marks his fourth consecutive low performance in the ongoing IPL 2025 season.

Regarding the pitch conditions, Miller commented, “The feedback from the players who batted for a while indicated that it was slow and the ball seemed to stick in the pitch. A well-placed back of a length delivery tended to squat a bit.”

“It’s a good wicket, but we will implement those variations. There is currently no dew, but we hope our bowlers can execute the strategies we have discussed over the past few days,” he added.

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