"Playing football in cricket"- Fans erupt as Akash Madhwal's sensational fifer helped MI destroy LSG in IPL 2023 Eliminator

Mumbai Indians (MI) pacer Akash Madhwal produced his best bowling performance in the IPL 2023 Eliminator against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on Wednesday (May 24). He thus helped his team get to the next phase, Qualifier 2.

Madhwal ended up with incredible figures of 5/5 as he completely dismantled the Lucknow batting line-up. It was his bowling that helped Mumbai clinch victory with a massive margin of 81 runs.

Fans on Twitter were thrilled to see Mumbai Indians unearth another gem in Madhwal. Many credited him for stepping up when MI had massive injury issues. Here are some of the reactions:

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Akash Madhwal's double strike proved to be the defining moment of the game

MI seemed to have set a daunting target of 183 for LSG and started brilliantly, picking up two quick wickets. But then, it was Marcus Stoinis who began the counter-attack and threatened to take the game away from Mumbai.

Rohit Sharma then turned to Akash Madhwal in the 10th over and he produced something magical that arguably broke the back of LSG's batting. Madhwal dismissed Ayush Badoni and also sent the dangerous Nicholas Pooran packing for a golden duck.

Pooran's wicket really pushed LSG back and as many as three run-outs further proved just how rattled the chasing team were. MI's morale would arguably be at an all-time high as they march to Ahmedabad to face the Gujarat Titans in Qualifier 2 on Friday, May 26.

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Mumbai Indians: Ishan Kishan (wk), Rohit Sharma (c), Cameron Green, Suryakumar Yadav, N Tilak Varma, Tim David, Chris Jordan, Piyush Chawla, Akash Madhwal, Hrithik Shokeen, Jason Behrendorff

Substitutes: Ramandeep Singh, Nehal Wadhera, Vishnu Vinod, Kumar Kartikeya, Sandeep Warrier

Lucknow Super Giants: Deepak Hooda, Prerak Mankad, Marcus Stoinis, Krunal Pandya (c), Nicholas Pooran (wk), Ayush Badoni, Krishnappa Gowtham, Ravi Bishnoi, Naveen-ul-Haq, Yash Thakur, Mohsin Khan

Substitutes: Kyle Mayers, Daniel Sams, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Swapnil Singh, Amit Mishra