Despite Ashutosh Sharma's scintillating knock of 61 runs off 28 balls, Punjab Kings (PBKS) fell short as Mumbai Indians (MI) secured their third victory of the season, defeating PBKS by 9 runs in the 33rd match of the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh Cricket Stadium on Thursday, 18 April.
In pursuit of a daunting target of 193 runs, the top order of PBKS crumbled like a deck of cards. The hosts could only scrape together 183 runs in 18.3 overs. Within the span of just four runs, from 10 to 14 runs, the hosts had already lost four wickets.
PBKS’ Shaky Start
The Kings faced an early setback when Gerald Coetzee sent back Prabhsimran Singh for a duck on just the third ball of the first over. Attempting a pull shot, he nicked a faint inside edge, leading to a catch by Kishan.
In the following over, Jasprit Bumrah dismissed Rilee Rossouw after he managed just one run. Then, in quick succession, he sent skipper Sam Curran back to the pavilion for a mere 6 runs, handing PBKS another blow. Punjab's batting order continued to struggle as Proteas pacer Coetzee claimed his second victim, dismissing Liam Livingstone for just a solitary run.
By the end of the powerplay, PBKS found themselves at 40/4.
Immediately after the powerplay, Shreyas Gopal added to Punjab's woes by dismissing Harpreet Singh, who managed only 13 balls before being caught and bowled.
More Troubles for PBKS But Ashutosh Stood Tall
Punjab lost their 6th wicket when Akash Madhwal dismissed wicket-keeper batter Jitesh Sharma LBW in the 10th over.
In came Ashutosh Sharma, initiating the innings' reconstruction alongside Shashank Singh, as they orchestrated a resilient 34-run stand from just 17 deliveries. However, their partnership came to an end when Bumrah returned, clinching his third wicket of the day by ousting Shashank in the 13th over. Misjudging the delivery, the batter handed an easy catch to Tilak Varma after scoring 41 runs from 25 balls.
Ashutosh stepped onto the crease with his team reeling at six wickets down, yet he defied the odds by smashing a half-century in the 16th over (53 runs off 23 deliveries). Even as the pressure mounted, Ashutosh continued to find the boundaries and clear the ropes. However, skipper Pandya entrusted Gerald Coetzee with the ball in the 18th over and he delivered by dismissing Ashutosh Sharma, caught by Nabi. Ashutosh departed after a blazing knock of 61 runs from 28 balls.
MI Had The Last Laugh
In the penultimate over of the game, PBKS suffered another setback as Harpreet Brar departed, having scored 21 runs from 20 balls. Hardik Pandya claimed his wicket, with Nabi completing the catch.
With 12 needed off the last over, Kagiso Rabada had the strike. However, on the very first delivery, he was run-out, with Mumbai Indians' emerging victorious by 9 runs.
What Happened In The First Innings?
Earlier, Suryakumar Yadav brought out his trademark shots to make a fine 78 and power Mumbai Indians to a daunting 192/7. On a two-paced pitch, Suryakumar hit seven fours and three sixes, showing impeccable wrist-work and collecting boundaries behind the square to hit his highest IPL score against PBKS.
He was also supported by handy knocks of 36 and 34 not out from Rohit Sharma and Tilak Varma respectively, as MI scored 77 runs in their last six overs. For PBKS, Harshal Patel and stand-in captain Sam Curran were the pick of the bowlers with spells of 3-31 and 2-41 respectively.
Electing to bowl first, Kagiso Rabada drew first blood as Ishan Kishan slashed a short ball straight to backward point in the third over. Rohit and Suryakumar would take a four and six each off Curran as MI ended power-play at 54/1.
Surya's Trademark Knocks
Curran continued to rotate his bowlers, which ensured MI weren’t let off the hook in the middle overs. But Suryakumar continued his shot-making spree by whipping, sweeping and lofting with elan to get his fifty in 23 balls.
Rohit reached out to drive off a slower delivery from Curran, but sliced to backward point in the 12th over. PBKS dried up boundaries in the 12th, 13th and 14th overs, before Tilak broke the boundary drought by lofting and driving Arshdeep for successive fours. Suryakumar then drilled a drive through extra cover to collect another boundary as 15 runs came off the 15th over.
Suryakumar survived an lbw appeal off Rabada in the 16th over, and followed it up by lofting inside-out and scooping over the keeper for four and six respectively. Tilak then came in to end the 18-run over with a pulled six off Rabada at deep mid-wicket. But Suryakumar fell in the next over, slicing to backward point off Curran and fell for 78 off 53 balls.
Hardik's Poor Run Continued
MI captain Hardik Pandya’s poor form continued as his attempt to muscle a slower short ball from Harshal found the fielder at deep mid-wicket. Tim David injected momentum in the death overs by hitting two fours and a six in the 19th over yielding 18 runs. But Harshal had a solid final over, taking out David and Romario Shepherd, with Mohammad Nabi being run-out on the final ball to keep MI eight short of 200.
With inputs from IANS.
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