Hardik, Pollard, Tiwari lift Mumbai Indians to fifth spot, Punjab Kings slip to sixth.
Mumbai Indians 137/4 (Tiwary 45, Hardik 40*, Bishnoi 2/25) beat Punjab Kings 135/6 (Markram 42, Bumrah 2-24, Pollard 2/8) by six wickets
The match number 42 between Mumbai Indians (MI) and Punjab Kings (PBKS) was one of the crucial matches of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 as the two lower-half teams in the points table with the same tally as Rajasthan Royals clashed against each other.
It was important for the defending and five-time champion Mumbai Indians to win the game as they have not won a single match in the second phase of Indian Premier League 2021.
On the other side, Punjab Kings were looking for another win in front of their name so that they can move one step towards the qualification for the play-offs of the Indian Premier League.
Mumbai Indians chose to field after winning toss
After winning the toss, Mumbai Indians started well with the ball and maintained the pressure throughout the innings. Kieron Pollard took two vital wickets of Chris Gayle and KL Rahul in the same over. Kieron Pollard is the only player who has the unique double of 10,000 runs and 300 wickets in T20s. The two wickets of Rahul and Gayle put Punjab on the backfoot as they are the two most important batters for their franchise.
Jasprit Bumrah took two wickets and conceded just 24 runs in his spell of four overs while on the other hand, Krunal Pandya also conceded 24 runs and took one wicket.
Rahul Chahar bowled an excellent spell of 4-0-27-1. Chahar’s good performance in T20s is a good sign for Team India as he is included in the T20 World Cup. Trent Boult was not as effective as he is in other games. He was a bit expensive in this game as he conceded 30 runs in his three overs.
The poor performance by PBKS batters continues to be manifested as the top and middle-order is not being able to score runs. Punjab has big names like Nicolas Pooran in their squad but they are not able to perform according to the expectations. Pooran scored significant runs in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) but is not managing to score consistently for PBKS in this season’s IPL. In most of the matches, he has not been able to score more than 10 runs and he has also got dismissed on ducks and golden ducks in this season.
Mandeep Singh came to open the innings with the skipper KL Rahul, as Mayank Agarwal was not available for selection due to an injury. But Singh also wasn’t able to perform for his side this time.
Saurabh Tiwary scores 45, Pollard-Pandya see MI through
The partnership of 45 runs between Kieron Pollard and Hardik Pandya helped Mumbai Indians to their first win of the second phase of IPL 2021. Pollard and Pandya scored 15* and 40 respectively in a partnership of 45 runs from only 23 balls.
Hardik Pandya came back into form and hit some excellent shots which took his side to the victory post. Pandya coming back into form is a big positive for Team India as he has been included in the national squad for the T20 World Cup 2021.
Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan have not been able to perform since the start of the second phase. This could prove costly as these are the pitches where the T20 World Cup is scheduled to take place from next month.
Ravi Bishnoi was the pick of the bowlers for PBKS, he took two important wickets of Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav while conceding just 25 runs which kept Punjab Kings in the game for a long time in the match. He is performing exceedingly well at such a young age. He is one of interesting prospects to watch out for. He should have been included in the T20 World Cup 2021 as he is clearly matching the performances of his leg spin counterparts, Rahul Chahar and Yuzvendra Chahal.
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Stat Alert
- Kieron Pollard is the eleventh player in the world to complete 300 wickets in T20 cricket.
- Krunal Pandya became the second MI player after Kieron Pollard to score 1000 runs and bag 50 wickets in IPL.
MI move up to number 5 in points table
With this victory, Mumbai Indians moved to fifth spot with 10 points in 11 games at a net run rate of -0.453 and on the other side, Punjab Kings slipped to sixth position with 8 points in 11 games at a net run rate of -0.288.
On September 29, 2021, the number three-ranked Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), who are on 12 points, will take on Sanju Samson’s Rajasthan Royals (RR), who are at the seventh position with 8 points, at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. The match kicks off at 19:30 hours IST.
Twitter Reactions as Mumbai Indians beat Punjab Kings
Mumbai Indians beat Punjab Kings by six wickets in 42nd match of IPL 2021. Mumbai Indians move to fifth position in points table, Punjab Kings sixth. Hardik Pandya scored unbeaten 40 of 30 deliveries and Pollard 15 of 7. Fans are happy as Mumbai win its first game after three defeats in the second phase of IPL 2021.
Here are some of the finest Twitter Reactions from MIvsPBKS match:
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