IPL 2023, Punjab Kings (PBKS) vs Mumbai Indians (MI), Top Performances: Jitesh-Livingstone’s 116-run stand, Ishan Kishan’s 75, and Suryakumar Yadav’s 66 are the top performances. MI beat PBKS by 6 wickets and move to 6th place in points table.
Brief Scores: MI 216/4 (Kishan 75, Surya 66, Ellis 2/34) beat PBKS 214/3 (Livingstone 82, Jitesh 49, Chawla 2-29) by 6 wickets.
Player Of The Match: Ishan Kishan (75 off 41)
Mumbai Indians took on the hosts Punjab Kings in an important middle-table clash and the winner would be in a relatively comfortable position in the league stage. In the previous encounter between the sides, PBKS came out on top securing a narrow win over MI at the Wankhede However, in the return fixture it was MI who came out on top by 6 wickets and they went past PBKS in what was looking like a daunting chase at the halfway mark.
Mumbai Secures Victory Against Punjab with Ishan and Suryakumar's Stellar Performance
In the cricket match between PBKS and MI, MI won the toss and fielded. They included Akash Madhwal in their team while PBKS brought in Mathew Short and Nathan Ellis. PBKS lost an early wicket but Shikhar Dhawan's aggressive batting helped them reach 50 runs in just 6 overs. However, the dismissal of the PBKS captain and the struggles of Mathew Short slowed down their scoring rate. Jitesh Sharma and Liam Livingstone then formed a strong partnership of 119 runs, setting a target of 215 for MI to win.
MI's chase got off to a poor start, losing Rohit Sharma for a duck. However, Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav played an excellent inning of 75 and 66 runs respectively, with their partnership making the difference. MI lost both batsmen in quick succession, but Tilak Verma and Tim David finished the game in style, helping MI win by 6 wickets. Despite the early hiccups, MI's strong batting performance helped them chase down the target comfortably.
Talking Points from PBKS vs MI
The talking point of the game has to be MI’s batting line-up finally coming to the fore with 4 of the top-6clicking at the same time. Surya’s 2nd successive half-century is a good sign for MI so is Kishan’s blitz at the top. While Green has been in decent form the hitting form of Tim David and Tilak Verma is a good omen for MI going forward.
Let us analyze the top performance between the Punjab Kings and Mumbai Indians in IPL 2023
Jitesh Sharma and Liam Livingstone's sizzling stand takes PBKS past 200
PBKS seemed to lose their way a bit after a good start in the powerplays by losing the crucial wicket of Dhawan soon after and then Short finding it difficult to score. But when Jitesh Sharma joined Liam Livingstone in the middle, things happened for PBKS.
The duo took turns to decimate the MI attack. First Jitesh smashed 3 boundaries off Jofra Archer and then Liam repeated the same off Arshad. The last 4 overs yielded 65 runs with the penultimate over of Archer going for 27 runs. Liam scored 50 off 31 balls and eventually finished with 42-ball 82 and Jitesh ended up with a great 27-ball 49 as PBKS amassed 214/3.
Ishan Kishan was at his best in this scintillating knock
Ishan Kishan is not having the best of IPLs this year having only 214 runs in the 8 innings with just a solitary half-century. But in this important clash against the Kings and in a daunting run-chase, Kishan showed what he is capable of. First, he took on Rishi Dhawan, who was looking in great rhythm for 2 sixes and dominated the PBKS bowlers reaching his 50 off just 29 deliveries. If Surya took on Chahar and Curran, Ishan took on Arshdeep Singh who gave away 21 runs in his 2nd. His stay eventually ended when on 75.
Suryakumar comes good when required for MI
Suryakumar Yadav like most MI batters struggled to get going this season but, in this match, we well and truly saw the Surya of old. He was quick to start off the blocks and then in the space of 2 overs, he brought MI ever closer to the target. First, he struck 3 fours off-spinner Rahul Chahar before punishing Sam Curran for 23 runs. SKY reached his fifty in just 23 balls. He departed after making a stunning 31-ball 66 and laid a solid foundation for the lower middle order to finish the formalities.
The two of them combined to muster 116 runs for the 3rd wicket and it came in just 55 balls. Their epic stand gave MI a resounding 6-wicket win with over 1 over to spare.
Read More: IPL 2023, Mid-Season Review: Balanced GT aim for back-to-back trophies; CSK, RR, LSG fighting hard
What’s Next
Mumbai Indians go to the 10 points club with this win and they join 3 other teams in that area. MI next take on their arch-rivals CSK at Chennai on May 6th, while PBKS face KKR away from home on the 8th of May. MI and PBSK are at 6th & 7th respectively in the points table.
IPL 2023 Points Table
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