Hardik Pandya becomes first captain in IPL's 17-year history to record fifer, registers career-best figures against LSG

Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya led from the front as he returned with five wickets against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in an Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 match at the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium on Friday. In Match No.16 of the 18th edition of the cash-rich league, Hardik took the wickets of Nicholas Pooran, Rishabh Pant, Aiden Markram, David Miller and Akash Deep. IPL 2025, LSG vs MI: Hardik Pandya registered his best-ever T20 figures(AFP)

With this spell of 5/36, Hardik Pandya registered his best-ever T20 figures. His previous best was 4/16 against New Zealand in Ahmedabad in 2023. He is also the first captain in the tournament's history to take a five-wicket haul in the IPL.

Hardik Pandya is now behind Shane Warne in having the most IPL wickets as a captain. The former Rajasthan Royals captain took 57 wickets as the skipper, while Pandya has 30.

Lucknow Super Giants were going all guns blazing as Mitchell Marsh gave the hosts a flying start, scoring 60 runs off 31 balls. However, Vignesh Puthur dismissed the right-hander, paving the way for Mumbai Indians to curb the run-scoring.

Hardik then introduced himself into the attack in the 9th over and he immediately reaped rewards as he got rid of the danger-man Nicholas Pooran. Soon after, the all-rounder got the better of LSG captain Rishabh Pant.

At the mid-innings, Lucknow Super Giants batter David Miller heaped praise on Hardik, saying he is a good bowler and is a bit quicker than everyone thinks.

“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,” said LSG batter David Miller during an interview at the mid-innings.

Lucknow Super Giants post 203/8

In the allotted 20 overs, LSG posted 203/8 after being asked to bat first. Mitchell Marsh and Aiden Markram played knocks of 60 and 53 to help the Lucknow-based franchise post more than 200 runs on the board.

LSG skipper Rishabh Pant disappointed once again, scoring just 2 runs off six balls. This is his fourth consecutive low score in the ongoing IPL 2025 edition.

Speaking of this score, Miller said, “The feedback we got from the guys who batted for a while was it was slow and it stuck in the pitch. A good back of a length ball squatted a little.”

“Good wicket, but we will use those variations. No dew as of now but hope our bowlers execute on what we have been talking about in the last few days,” he added.

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