As a result of the win, MI move to the fifth position in the points table. Their batting still isn’t clicking but the win will help their confidence. For PBKS, the pressure proved to once again be too much to handle and that will worry them no end.
MI 137/4 after 19 overs: Punjab needed Shami to show up but he instead got hammered in this one. 17 runs in the over but the fielders didn’t help. One misfield went for a four and then another went for a six. MI finally have a win in Phase 2. Hardik finished with 40 off 30 balls and Pollard made 15 off 7.
Shami to bowl the 19th over.
MI 120/4 after 18 overs: Pollard!!! A four and six to make it 16 runs off 12 balls. The big West Indian coming good for MI again. 13 runs off the over.
MI 106/4 after 17 overs: 11 runs off the Shami over thanks to Hardik slamming a four and a six off consecutive balls early. Mumbai Indians need 29 runs in 18 balls
MI 96/4 after 16 overs: Pandya and Hardik in the middle. Just four runs and a wicket in the Ellis over. Mumbai Indians need 40 runs in 24 balls.
MI 92/4 after 15.1 overs: WICKET! Tiwary edges it to the keeper. Ellis gets the wicket with a wide slower ball and Rahul leapt forward to take it. Time for a strategic timeout. Saurabh Tiwary c Rahul b Nathan Ellis 45(37)
MI 92/3 after 15 overs: Tiwary powering a six with a slog sweep but still just 8 runs from the Bishnoi over. MI would love a big over to ease the pressure.
MI 84/3 after 14 overs: Harpreet fails to hold on. A life for Hardik. Arshdeep’s slower ball had the batsman fooled but the fielder made a bit of a mess.
MI 78/3 after 13 overs: Just three runs from the Ellis over. Punjab doing very well to keep things tight. Mumbai Indians need 58 runs in 42 balls.
MI 75/3 after 12 overs: Tiwary has looked very good in the middle. He is striking the ball well and seems to have come to terms with the wicket very well.
MI 68/3 after 11 overs: Punjab keeping the pressure on. Bishnoi has found the right pace to bowl on this wicket.
Hardik Pandya walks in. MI will need him to do his bit today.
MI 61/3 after 9.5 overs: WICKET! Rahul turned to Shami after the strategic break and the pacer rewards him with the wicket of QdK. Big wicket and MI will have another new batsman in the middle. de Kock b Shami 27(29)
MI 54/2 after 9 overs: Harpreet into the attack and MI get 11 runs off the over. One huge 94m six the obvious highlight of the over. Tiwary coming down the wicket and doing everything right. Ooof!
MI 43/2 after 8 overs: QdK almost holing out in the deep. He got a four but Bishnoi almost had his third wicket. Markram unable to complete the catch.
MI 35/2 after 7 overs: MI know they have the firepower down the order, so for now they need to keep the scoreboard moving along.
MI 30/2 after 6 overs: The Powerplay overs are done. Punjab will be happy so far. Another wicket or two and the pressure will be all on MI. Will dew be a factor?
MI 25/2 after 5 overs: Crucial for MI to get through this phase and not lose too many wicket. PBKS has some good options in their bowling attack. Pressure.
MI 16/2 after 3.4 overs: WICKET! Two in a row. Another googly, another wicket. Suryakumar Yadav is bowled. A first ball duck. Bishnoi!!! Suryakumar Yadav b Ravi Bishnoi 0(1)
MI 16/1 after 3.3 overs: WICKET! Bishnoi into the attack and he strikes. Rohit Sharma walking back. Googly did the trick. Rohit Sharma c Mandeep b Ravi Bishnoi 8(10)
MI 15/0 after 3 overs: Arshdeep into the attack and he concedes just 3 runs. QdK just unable to get the ball away.
MI 12/0 after 2 overs: Shami from the other end and MI play him out carefully. MI don’t need to be worried about the run-rate today. If they keep wickets in hand, they should be comfortable.
MI 6/0 after 1 over: PBKS start off with Markram. Spin isn’t a surprise but is Markram the bowler would was most likely to get them a wicket?
PBKS 135/6 after 20 overs: A brilliant bowling performance by MI and they have restricted PBKS to 135/6. Punjab are perhaps 20 runs short of where they would have wanted to be. Not the easiest pitch but MI will fancy their chances.
PBKS 123/6 after 18.4 overs: WICKET! Hooda (28) caught in the deep as Bumrah gets another one. With just two balls left, Hooda might have just waited for the last over. Hooda c Pollard b Bumrah 28(26)
PBKS 122/5 after 18 overs: Can Punjab get one big over that will take them past 140?
PBKS 118/5 after 17 overs: Six runs from the Bumrah over. Do Punjab have one big over in them? Can Hooda cut loose?
PBKS 109/5 after 15.2 overs: WICKET! Markram falls just as he was starting to play the shots. Beaten in the air and bowled while attempting the sweep. A good innings though. It has helped Punjab stage some sort of recovery. Markram b Rahul Chahar 42(29)
PBKS 105/4 after 15 overs: Just the over Punjab needed. Markram started the Boult over with a four and it just got better from that point on. 15 runs from the over.
PBKS 90/4 after 14 overs: Markram and Hooda have put on 42(39) and they will probably not start to play a few more shots. But who goes first and when? Strategic break time.
PBKS 83/4 after 13 overs: Punjab making decent progress. Something around 130-140 could be a competitive total on this wicket.
PBKS 75/4 after 12 overs: Those three quick wickets have pegged Punjab back and at the moment, they just need to keep it going till around the 16th over and then look for a few big overs.
PBKS 69/4 after 11 overs: A seven-run over from Boult. Punjab just looking to make sure they play out 20 overs. They don’t need to do anything dramatic.
PBKS 62/4 after 10 overs: Five runs off the Coulter-Nile over. Punjab need to take a few overs here and not lose wickets.
PBKS 57/4 after 9 overs: Chahar into the attack and he gives away 7 runs. A widish delivery was hit for four by Markram but Punjab have a lot of work to be done here.
Time for a strategic break. Punjab need this more than Mumbai. 50/4 after 8 overs is not a good place to be.
PBKS 48/4 after 7.4 overs: WICKET! Pooran gone too. Bumrah strikes now. MI are in full control here. The review didn’t help. Lovely angle – tailing into the leg and middle stump. Pooran lbw b Bumrah 2(3)
PBKS 41/3 after 6.4 overs: WICKET! Pollard strikes again. Rahul walking back and this hurts Punjab. It was short and he tried to pull it away but got a top edge and it was easily taken by Bumrah at short fine leg. Rahul c Bumrah b Pollard 21(22)
PBKS 39/2 after 6.2 overs: WICKET! Gayle is caught in the deep. Pollard gets the big wicket. Punjab will do well to reassess what total they want to get from this point on. Gayle c Hardik Pandya b Pollard 1(4)
Powerplay overs are done. 6 overs, 38 runs, 1 wicket. MI will be happy with the start. PBKS not so much.
PBKS 36/1 after 5.2 overs: WICKET! Mandeep looked to play the sweep, missed the ball, got hit on the pads and Krunal has got MI the breakthrough. They didn’t take a review. Mandeep lbw b Krunal Pandya 15(14)
PBKS 35/0 after 5 overs: Mandeep struggling to get his timing right so far. But a decent start by Coulter-Nile. Just 3 runs from the over.
PBKS 32/0 after 4 overs: Bumrah into the attack and Punjab get 11 runs off him. A four by Rahul, who is looking in sublime touch and a top-edged hook for four by Mandeep make it an expensive over.
PBKS 21/0 after 3 overs: Punjab haven’t managed to cut loose and the ball seemed to be stopping off the wicket a little. Shot-making is not going to be easy. A full toss on the last ball was hit for a four by Rahul and that made it a nine-run over.
PBKS 12/0 after 2 overs: Boult from the other end and he is getting some swing. But there was one ball that was pitched up and Rahul just caressed it through the covers for four. Super shot.
PBKS 4/0 after 1 over: Rahul and Mandeep are opening the innings and MI started off with Krunal. Steady stuff.
Teams news:
Punjab Kings playing XI: KL Rahul(w/c), Mandeep Singh, Chris Gayle, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran, Deepak Hooda, Harpreet Brar, Nathan Ellis, Mohammed Shami, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh
Mumbai Indians playing XI: Rohit Sharma(c), Quinton de Kock(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Saurabh Tiwary, Krunal Pandya, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Rahul Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult
KL Rahul: “Don’t mind batting first on this wicket.”
Rohit Sharma: “As a team, we do understand where we stand at the moment. We haven’t played to our best potential so far.”
TOSS: Mumbai Indians have won the toss and elected to field first.
Hello and welcome to our coverage of the match between the Mumbai Indians and Punjab Kings. The two teams are level on points after 10 matches played, locked in a fight for the fourth playoff spot, and are in desperate need of a win to keep their IPL 2021 playoffs chances alive.
The Mumbai Indians, currently in seventh place, have lost three matches on the trot. While the Punjab Kings have lost a last-ball thriller as only they can and won a last-over nail-biter.
But only a fool would bet against MI finding their best form again. PBKS, on the other hand, will be hoping to ride their momentum to another win.