Five-time champions Mumbai Indians will take on Krunal Pandya’s Lucknow Super Giants in the eliminator. Rohit’s men are yet to register a win against LSG in the Indian Premier League.

Out of the three meetings, the game this season at Lucknow is the closest they got to winning, however, they were undone by Moshin Khan’s brilliance in the final over.

MI is coming into the game after thrashing Sunrisers Hyderabad at home courtesy of a blistering Cameron Green ton. LSG on the other hand had just managed to pull the game by a thread against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens. Nevertheless, this game will be played in Chepauk and the conditions will be nothing like their final league games.

Eliminator Time ⏳

📍Chennai

It's now or never for both the teams! 🔥🔥

Only one side proceeds ahead. Who will it be 🤔#TATAIPL | #Eliminator | #LSGvMI pic.twitter.com/NVLBXPnI0B

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 24, 2023

Mumbai has played one game in Chennai and lost comprehensively by six wickets. On the other hand, this is the first time Super Giants will be playing at Chepauk.

Here’s where the game may turn in this knock-out contest.

LSG spin vs Mumbai’s powerful middle-order

Mumbai Indians have scored over 200 runs six times this season which has been the highest by any team in a campaign. They have been scoring at 9.37 runs per over in the middle. The likes of Suryakumar Yadav, Cameron Green and Nehal Wadhera have been demolishing the bowlers in this phase.

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However, all of this striking has been limited to excellent batting conditions at Wankhede as five of their 200-plus scores came at their home venue and one at Mohali against Punjab Kings. They have struggled elsewhere against tweakers on slower surfaces.

LSG on the other hand has one of the most potent spin attacks with Ravi Bishnoi, Krunal Pandya and veteran Amit Mishra in the tournament. They have been going at 8.66 in this phase of the innings. Earlier in the season the LSG spinners showed their skills against the Mumbai middle-order.

It's the 𝔼𝕝𝕚𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕒𝕥𝕠𝕣 day & आपले boys are leaving no stone unturned in the quest for a 𝑾 💪🏏#OneFamily #LSGvMI #MumbaiMeriJaan #MumbaiIndians #IPL2023 #TATAIPL MI TV pic.twitter.com/IsRz5BS8tK

— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) May 24, 2023

LSG choked MI in the middle overs after the openers got to a flier with a 90-run stand in the chase of 178 runs but still lost by five runs. Wadhera, Surya and Green struggled with their timing and had no alternative method on the surface which did not have the same bounce as Wankhede.
The Chennai pitch will be similar to that track which indicates Lucknow may hold the upper hand in this battle.

The battle of all-rounders vs specialists

“I feel T20 is heading that way and we have also seen that. Successful franchises are filled with all-rounders. So we’re very clear about getting a lot of all-rounders in our team,” said KL Rahul speaking on Star Sports ahead of the tournament.

LSG has been able to use 12-opening bowling combinations throughout the tournament with a plethora of bowling options available. They have had the virtue of using the likes of Marcus Stoinis who can bowl cutters and slower ball variations in the middle overs when the surface is slow or Kyle Mayers with the new ball when there was a bit of swing and spinners depending on the match-ups.

On the other hand, Mumbai has put all their all-rounder eggs in Green basket and the rest of the team has been filled with specialist roles. The likes of Tim David, Tilak Varma and Wadhera can chip in with a few overs however, not to the extent of what LSG all-rounders can do who can finish off their quota of four overs on any given day unharmed and any of the same players can win them the game with the bat.

Epic comebacks. Impressive character. ✅

Now, ready for the 𝐄𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/AptyhL1s27

— Lucknow Super Giants (@LucknowIPL) May 24, 2023

Mumbai’s death bowling misery

Mumbai Indians have been going at 12.54 at the death which is the worst in the tournament by a distance. If not for Piyush Chawla’s middle-over breakthroughs and Akash Madhwal’s peaking at the right time in the second half of the season things would have looked a lot worse for Rohit’s side.

The side could not fill a Bumrah-Archer-sized hole throughout the season. The experienced Chris Jordan was brought in place of Archer late in the season however, he has been going at 10.87 in the opportunities he had.

Nicholas Pooran has been ruthless against the bowlers when closing the games. His knocks against Royal Challengers Bangalore and SRH striking at more than 300 early on the season have displayed how brutal he can be when bowlers can’t hit their mark. In addition to Pooran, Stoinis with his clean striking ability and brute strength has shown how the dimensions and conditions become irrelevant when he is on song. He has already displayed to MI what he can do as well when he smacked 89 and destroyed the Mumbai bowling attack in the final overs.

Due to the end-overs bowling issue, Rohit has preferred to chase irrespective of the conditions and has been successful for the most part, winning six from 9 games.However, most of the success has come in good batting conditions and this would be a unique challenge for the Mumbai batting juggernaut on a spin-assisting Chepauk in a high-pressure game against a quality spin attack.