After three defeats in a row, PBKS are back on track with this win and it will do their confidence a lot of good. And that’s it from us today. Join us again tomorrow.
Player of the match and PBKS skipper KL Rahul: We don’t want to get too ahead of ourselves. Slowly we are coming together as a team. The guys we have backed are slowly coming through. Bishnoi came back today and the way he bowled was brilliant. It was good of Chris that he got through that period. He knew whom to target. That’s what you get with Chris, not just destructive batting but also experience of playing T20 cricket.
PBKS opener Mayank Agarwal: It was nice to get two points on the board, finishing it off with 9 wickets in hand was good, the way we paced our innings was excellent. The discussion (between myself and Rahul) was simple - play proper and good cricketing shots, try to play as straight as possible, especially on slow pitches like this, unless the ball was short where we could play on the square. We were looking for a good Powerplay, that’s what we did.
MI skipper Rohit Sharma: Not enough runs. I still feel it is not a bad wicket to bat on. You saw how they batted and won the game by 9 wickets. It is just the application which is missing in our batting. If you get 150-160 on this wicket then you are always in the game, that is something we failed to do in the last two games... something is missing in our batting line-up, we are not able 20 overs in the fashion we want and something that we have to look at and see what we can do.
PBKS 132/1 after 17.4 overs: 6-1-6-4 off the first four balls from Boult! Wow. The perfect chase by Punjab Kings. They have beaten MI by nine wickets. Rahul finishes with 60 off 52 while Gayle made a brilliant 43 off 35. Good partnerships and a stunning finish. MI have some thinking to do.
PBKS 115/1 after 17 overs: Very steady stuff by PBKS. They have been brilliant in the chase so far. They now need 17 off 18. Gayle has been particularly impressive given the manner in which he has adjusted to the lack of pace. Rahul has got his 50 off 50 balls.
PBKS 108/1 after 16 overs: 24 runs now needed off 24 balls. Gayle playing a vital hand here for PBKS. He has put on a 50-run stand with Rahul and MI are under the pump here.
PBKS 99/1 after 15 overs: Gayle smashed a six early in the over and then the ball was changed. The next few deliveries, with the new dry ball, were unplayable. Here we go. 33 runs needed off 30 balls.
PBKS 93/1 after 14 overs: 11 runs off the Pollard over and equation now is a very achievable 39 runs in 36 balls. Rahul needs to bat deep and Gayle’s ability to pull out the big shots will worry MI too.
PBKS 82/1 after 13 overs: 12 off the Jayant Yadav over with two fours for Gayle, who is slowly getting into his rhythm. Punjab Kings now need 50 runs in 42 balls.
PBKS 70/1 after 12 overs: Seven runs off the Chahar over. Releases the pressure a little. A boundary helped matters and this is more like it from PBKS. They need a plan here.
PBKS 63/1 after 11 overs: Just 10 runs have been added since Mayank’s wicket. A poor shot that has come back to haunt them. Just one run from the Jayant over. The off-spinner has conceded 2 runs in 2 overs so far.
PBKS 62/1 after 10 overs: Five runs off Chahar’s over. PBKS need to keep doing this and hit the odd boundary. MI, on the other hand, need wickets.
PBKS 57/1 after 9 overs: Just one run from the Jayant Yadav over. The off-spinner will make things difficult for Gayle on this wicket. The second half of the innings is when things get really difficult. Time for a strategic break.
PBKS 53/1 after 7.2 overs: WICKET! Mayank throws it away. PBKS were going so well but Mayank decided to hit it in the air and only found the fielder in the deep. Wicket for Chahar.
PBKS 52/0 after 7 overs: Punjab Kings need 80 runs in 78 balls and Krunal’s bowling hasn’t helped MI today. His two overs have gone for 22 runs.
PBKS 45/0 after 6 overs: Rahul and Mayank have been just brilliant. Perfect Powerplay for Punjab and it puts MI under immense pressure. They just will have to go for broke at some point.
PBKS 40/0 after 5 overs: Chahar into the attack and he immediately brings MI some control. Just 3 runs off the over. The leg-spinner has been among the wickets this season, PBKS should look to play him carefully.
PBKS 37/0 after 4 overs: Rahul and Mayank are just rolling along and this is a perfect start for PBKS. 12 runs off the Boult over... they just need to keep this going now.
PBKS 25/0 after 3 overs: A top-edged six off the fifth ball makes it a good over for PBKS. 9 runs off the Bumrah over and MI are under early pressure.
PBKS 16/0 after 2 overs: Big over for PBKS. 15 runs off the Krunal over. Just what they needed to release the pressure. KL Rahul started it off with two fours and then Mayank ended the over with a six.
PBKS 1/0 after 1 over: Just one run from the first over by Boult. Slower balls and cutters are going be the way to go for pacers on this wicket. Playing shots isn’t easy but can PBKS time this chase right?
Rahul and Mayank are in the middle for PBKS. A tricky chase lies ahead of them…
MI 131/6 after 20 overs: A very solid bowling performance by PBKS. Allen got it wrong for them but the rest were right on the mark. For a while, it looked like the Rohit-Suryakumar stand would take it away but Punjab got wickets at the latter end of the innings to restrict MI to 131/6.
MI 130/6 after 19.5 overs: WICKET! Superb running catch by Pooran. He took it low to send back Krunal. Brilliant over by Shami so far. One ball remains in the innings.
MI 122/5 after 18.4 overs: WICKET! Pollard hit a six off the first ball but Arshdeep has come back well after that. The left-armer gets the wicket of Hardik, who hit it straight to Hooda at long-off.
MI 112/4 after 17.3 overs: WICKET! Allen takes a good catch on the boundary line to send back Rohit (63 off 52 balls). Shami gets the big wicket. Pollard and Hardik in the middle for MI now.
MI 105/3 after 16.1 overs: WICKET! Suryakumar (33 off 27) tried to play the reverse sweep, got the top edge and was easily caught by Gayle. Another wicket for Bishnoi.
MI 105/2 after 16 overs: Steady over by Shami but PBKS are bowling a four-ball every over and that is starting to hurt them.
MI 97/2 after 15 overs: Another poor over by Allen, who has conceded 30 in his 3 overs. The Rohit-SKY stand is now worth 71 off 49 balls and PBKS are panicking a little here.
MI 88/2 after 14 overs: Poor bowling from Bishnoi. Lacking control and being taken apart by the MI batsmen. On this pitch, he doesn’t need to try and do much. Put it in the right spot and the pitch will do the rest. 12 runs from the over and time for another strategic break.
MI 76/2 after 13 overs: Rohit and SKY have out on 50 off 37 balls. Just the partnership MI needed. But can they find another gear in the overs that remain? They have the big hitters but someone needs to flip the switch.
MI 66/2 after 12 overs: Rohit is slowly by surely getting his innings going. He has got his eye in and is starting to punish all the loose deliveries now.
MI 56/2 after 11 overs: Arshdeep into the attack and 7 runs off the over. Rohit Sharma has 37 off 33 and MI will hope he bats deep today. New batsmen have struggled on this surface.
MI 49/2 after 10 overs: SIX! Allen sends a full toss Rohit’s way and the MI skipper smashes that into the stands. Allen has struggled as compared to every over PBKS bowler. He has conceded 21 runs in his two overs.
MI 39/2 after 9 overs: Just two runs from the Bishnoi over. Time for a strategic timeout and for MI to really get a move on here.
MI 37/2 after 8 overs: Back-to-back four off Allen by Rohit to start the over. He relied on deft touch to touch to get the ball past the short third man. 11 runs off the over. A good one for MI.
MI 26/2 after 7 overs: WICKET! Bishnoi into the attack and he gets Kishan (6 off 17 balls) with his googly. Good catch by KL Rahul. MI in some trouble and SKY could be the batsman to change things around,
MI 21/1 after 6 overs: Just 21 runs in the Powerplay over for MI. PBKS has started very well. This is the lowest score in the PP in Chennai this season. Shami bowled the final over of the PP and he, too, kept it simple.
MI 17/1 after 5 overs: A four off the last ball makes it a five-run over for MI. They are really struggling here. Henriques has done a brilliant job for his skipper here... 3-0-12-0. Ishan Kishan, pushed up the order, has 4 off 13 balls.
MI 12/1 after 4 overs: Another brilliant over by Hooda. He is getting sharp turn too. Batting against spin is only going to get more difficult as the match goes on.
MI 10/1 after 3 overs: Henriques with another good over. His lack of outright pace is perfect for this wicket. But it won’t be long before one of the batsmen decides to go for a few quick runs.
Ishan Kishan has come in at No 3 today. Ahead of Suryakumar Yadav.
MI 7/1 after 2 overs: WICKET! Hooda strikes to send back de Kock (3 off 5) in the second over. Hit it straight to mid-on. The new ball just skidding on a bit. Great start to the match for PBKS.
MI 4/0 after 1 over: Moises Henriques is bowling the first over of the innings for the first time since 2013 and he almost had Rohit Sharma’s wicket. But the MI skipper reviewed the caught behind and it showed that the ball hit the thigh pad on the way to the keeper.
Rohit believes his team now know how to set a target on this surface. It will be interesting to see how the MI innings goes.
Playing XIs: One change for PBKS. Ravi Bhisnoi comes in for M Ashwin. Leg-spinner for a leg-spinner.
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma(c), Quinton de Kock(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Jayant Yadav, Rahul Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult
Punjab Kings: KL Rahul(w/c), Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle, Nicholas Pooran, Deepak Hooda, Moises Henriques, Shahrukh Khan, Fabian Allen, Mohammed Shami, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh
Toss: Punjab Kings have won the toss and have opted to field first. Rahul thinks the pitch looks a little sticky and might get better a little later in the game.
Punjab Kings will eye a much-needed win when they face an inconsistent Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai today.
Rohit Sharma-led Mumbai lost to Delhi Capitals following an inept batting performance and will look to bounce back strongly. The skipper shone with the bat, but others could not get going and the misfiring middle-order failed again.
The MI bowlers have more often than not risen to the occasion and won matches for the team. However, they couldn’t do so against Delhi and would like the batters to put up bigger scores for them to do the job.
But Punjab has struggled to find the right balance. Their batting has seemed brittle and the bowling just hasn’t kicked into gear.