New Delhi, India

Skipper KL Rahul led from the front with a captain's knock as he powered Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) to a comfortable 18-run win against Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday (April 16). Rahul notched up his first century of the season as he played a terrific knock of unbeaten 103 runs off 60 balls to help his side post a big total of 199 runs on the board.

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Asked to bat first, Rahul finally managed to find his rhythm this season as he got LSG off to a flyer. The stylish right-hander combined with his opening partner Quinton de Kock (24) to add 52 runs for the first wicket before posting another brilliant stand of 66 runs for the second wicket with Manish Pandey who played a crucial knock of 38 runs.

Rahul stayed unbeaten till the end and took Lucknow Super Giants closer to the 200-run mark. His 60-ball 103 was laced with nine fours and five sixes as the LSG skipper bounced back in style after being dismissed for a duck in his side's last outing against Rajasthan Royals.

After posting a strong total on the board, Lucknow Super Giants bowlers were right on the money as they managed to restrict a struggling Mumbai Indians batting line-up on 181/9 in 20 overs.

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Also Read: KL Rahul slams stunning century against Mumbai Indians, becomes 3rd Indian to achieve elusive feat

Skipper Rohit Sharma's lean patch continued as he was dismissed cheaply on 6 off 7 balls by Avesh Khan in the 3rd over of MI's run chase. Dewald Brevis then played some sensational stroked en route to his quickfire 31 off 13 balls and added 31 runs for the second wicket with Ishan Kishan before the duo was dismissed in quick succession.

Suryakumar Yadav was MI's biggest hope after the top-order faltered but he could only manage 37 off 27 balls and was well supported by Tilak Varma, who scored 25 off 14 balls to add 64 runs for the third wicket. However, MI's innings was derailed after the duo's dismissal as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals and fell short by 18 runs in the run chase.

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Avesh Khan continued his impressive run with the ball for Lucknow Super Giants and bowled an exceptional spell of 3/30 off his four overs. The likes of Jason Holder, Dushmantha Chameera, Ravi Bishnoi and Marcus Stoinis all picked up a wicket apiece as Mumbai Indians were handed their sixth defeat in a row.

Mumbai Indians are yet to bag their first win this season as they have now lost as many as six matches in a row and are virtually out of the race for the playoffs with ten teams in contention. This is the first time in IPL history that MI have lost six games in a row at the start of the season - which is the joint-most by any team. MI are the only team to remain winless in the competition so far.