Mumbai Indians (MI) faced another jolt in its IPL 2025 journey, losing to Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) by 12 runs at Ekana Stadium on Friday night. This makes it MI's third successive defeat on away turf and adds to a season in which they have struggled for form and found it difficult to chase targets. MI skipper Hardik Pandya brightened the gloomy scenario with his five-wicket haul, becoming the first-ever captain to notch this feat in IPL history; but the result was that LSG were still able to post a healthy 207 runs. On the final delivery of the 19th over, Santner secured two runs while Hardik hit a six on the first ball of the last over. But he was unable to take the momentum forward. He opted to keep the strike, ignoring singles on the third and fourth balls, a decision that raised eyebrows. MI owner Akash Ambani appeared visibly upset with Hardik's choices that might have shrunk margins. In the chase, MI lost both their openers early, but Naman Dhir and Suryakumar Yadav provided a brief lift with their quickfire cameos. However, Tilak Varma struggled to keep the scoring going. In a surprising move, MI 'retired out' Tilak with seven balls remaining, and called into action Mitchell Santner instead. Also Read | Sehwag Slams SRH After Third Straight Loss in IPL 2025 Defeat left MI with just one win in three matches and put them seventh on the points table. The five-time IPL champions have not managed to perform well in the last few seasons, finishing 10th in two of the last three years. Hardik has been in charge and has led MI in 17 matches since he's taken over in 2024. The record is very poor with just five winning matches. The now-frustrated team must go back and rethink their strategies, especially their away-game approach, to turn it.