Bombay Indians 182 for 8 (Green 41, Naveen 4-38, Thakur 3-34) defeated Super Giant Lucknow 101 (Stoinis 40, Madhwal 5-5) with 81 points

Watch out Ahmadabad. Mumbai Indians arrive. The five-time champions staged to beat Lucknow Super Giants on Wednesday night and advance to Qualifier 2. They are now two wins away from lifting the trophy that could soon become their trademark.

The Super Giants went 74-for-3 to 101, all in a 183 pursuit.

Mumbai Border Festival

Mumbai did the little Drita Gadget well. They saw opponents open the bowling with rotation and exploited the fact that only two people were allowed out of the 30-yard circle. Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan hit four fours in the first three overs – all ducking into the spaces behind the dots and on good legs because they knew enough was enough. These are the conditions that should stop the biggest hitters in the IPL. But they didn’t. Mumbai ran 98 for 2, the third highest 10 in Chennai this year. They reached 15 caps during this period.

Naveen steps in

Cameron Green and Suryakumar Yadav not only cleared the boundary, they smashed the second tier. This season, several teams have experimented with three openers in their lineups. They come into play when there is a first wicket. They live in huts when they are not there. Mumbai are one of those teams and that helps them keep a very healthy pace. They are on track to finish 200.

That’s when Naveen-ul-Haq stepped in and pulled off the simplest thing. In Chepauk, everyone has to take a step. Including fast bowlers. After hitting for the first six balls in the 11th minute, he un-shot Suryakumar and caught him on the boundary straight, and two balls later an offcutter grabbed the pitch and threw Green over the door.

Impact Sub-impact

Mumbai played brilliantly in their first batting eleven. The logic was that if they needed the guy, they would place him for someone who was already fired.

This is what really happened. Nehal Wadhera replaced Suryakumar to face the last 21 innings.

If they don’t need it, they’ll probably bring an extra spinner to help maintain the total they get. Mumbai has kept both options open. It’s a fun way to use Sub Impact. It’s not worded.

Wadhera played a big role. He came on at a time when Mumbai had only managed 30 runs in 4.2 overs of the first. And he crushed 23 of 12, including two fours and a six in the final.