KL Rahul once again proved to be Mumbai Indians' nemesis as his magnificent second hundred set up a comfortable 36-run win for Lucknow Super Giants' and in turn knocked the five-time champions out of this edition of IPL.
Rahul continued his fairytale run against MI, slamming an unbeaten 103 off 62 balls with the help of 12 fours and four maximums as LSG posted 168 for 6 after being invited to bat at the Wankhade stadium.
Meanwhile, MI skipper Rohit Sharma rued side's eighth consecutive loss on the trot as he admitted that the 15th season hasn't gone the way the way it was expected.
"But when you lose games, you always have such discussions. As far as I am concerned, I want to give people enough chances to prove themselves. The season hasn't gone the way we would have wanted it to, but such things happen," Rohit said in the post match presentation.
Rohit Sharma looked good during his 31-ball 39 but MI suffered a collapse once again to slump to 67 for four.
Tilak Varma hit a gritty 27-ball 38 to give MI some hope before Lucknow restricted them to 132 for 8 for their fifth win in 8 matches to grab the fourth position in the overall points standing.
For MI, it was another collective failure as they slumped to their eighth successive loss on the trot, the only team in the history of the tournament to achieve the dubious record as they remain at the bottom.
"I thought we bowled pretty okay. It wasn't easy. It was a good pitch to bat on. I thought that score should have been chased down, but we didn't bat well enough. When you have a target like that, it is important to string partnerships. But some irresponsible shots in the middle, including mine. We didn't get the momentum. They bowled really well. We haven't batted well enough in this tournament. Whoever plays in the middle needs to take that responsibility and go on to play long innings," Rohit added.
"Some of the opposition players have done that and that is what is hurting us. One guy needs to ensure that he bats as long as possible. Everyone has come into discussion given how our tournament has gone. We need to ensure that we have a settled team and give players in the middle a fair chance. Their roles are different when they play for their countries and here we expect something else from them. We tried not making too many changes, and we have tried to play the best combination possible," the losing captain further added.
