The Mumbai Indians lost to the Punjab Kings by 12 runs in a thriller of a match at Pune. This is the fifth consecutive loss for the Mumbai Indians. It was a tense chase of 199, where Mumbai lost two wickets to run outs and couldn’t achieve their target even after Dewald Brevis and Tilak Varma put on a massive 84 off 41 balls.
The Punjab Kings scored a total of 198 for 5, with Dhawan at 70 and Agarwal at 52 while the Mumbai Indians were 186 for 9 with Brevis at 49, Suryakumar at 43 and Varma at 43 runs respectively.
King’s Innings
After scoring in the single digits the last three times, Mayank Agarwal’s aggression finally paid off. He helped the Kings reach a total of 65 for no loss at the end of six overs. This is the fourth-highest powerplay total this season. The fifth over saw Agarwal smashing M Ashwin for 4, 4, 6, with the six being really impressive as he smashed it over long-off. The second time he tried this shot proved unlucky, when he miscued it in the 10th over. On the other end, Dhawan found it a bit difficult to get room but still hit one of the best shots of his innings off Bumrah.
The Mumbai Indians had 5 bowlers on their team which strengthened their attack. While Ashwin gave 17 in his first over, he followed up with only another 17 in his next three. However, Bumrah stole the show with consistent yorker length and was the most economical bowler of the match.
Even though the Kings were forecasted to score only about 182, Jitesh Sharma turned the tide when he hit Unadkat for two sixes and two fours in the 18th over. Shahrukh Khan contributed two sixes in the final over, setting up a target that was tough for the Mumbai Indians.
The Mumbai Indians come to bat
The Indians had only six proper batters to begin with, however that didn’t stop them from attempting their shots. Rohit Sharma’s aggression led to him losing his wicket to Rabada and soon after, Ishan Kishan lost his to Arora leaving the Indians at 32 for 2 in the fifth over.
Brevis started off with a slight stumble but soon hit a four off Arshdeep and a six off Odean Smith. In the ninth over, Mumbai Indians needed 135 off 71 balls when Brevis came on strike. At the end of the over, the Indians needed 107 off 66, with their win probability shooting up to 48.5%. Brevis hit Chahar for four and three sixes, reminding the world why he is compared to the lines of AB de Villiers. Tilak Varma also contributed and it seemed like the Indians were flying to their target.
The last 48 balls saw the Indians needing just 79 runs, but then they lost two wickets to run outs. Suryakumar and Pollard could score only 19 runs in overs 14-16. After Pollard was run out, Indians needed 47 off 23 but only one batter. Suryakumar tried with sixes, leaving the Indians needing 22 off the last six balls. Their last hope was Unadkat, who was dismissed by Odean Smith in a triple-wicket over, leading to the Kings’ victory.
