A thrilling chase came to an agonising end as Punjab Kings lost their home game to Mumbai Indians at Mullanpur Stadium, Mohali on Thursday. The visitors scored a 9-run win after the last over super efforts by MI fielders resulted in runout of Kagiso Rabada. This ended all hopes for Punjab as they oncce again lost out a close game despite valiant efforts by batters such as Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma. In top form, Sharma brought Punjab back in the game even when half the side was bundled away by terrific MI bowling. His knock of 61 runs in 28 balls at the strike rate of 217 kept Punjab in the hunt till the very end. 

This is the fourth time in this season of the IPL that Punjab Kings have lost the match in the final over. Winning the toss and opting to field first, Punjab Kings tried their best to restrict MI. But Suryakumar Yadav in the early phase and Tilak Varma in death overs powered ME to a good total of 192 on the board.

Chasing down a target of 193, PBKS had the most disastrous start that any team has seen in IPL 17 so far. They lost four wickets within the first three overs of the power play. It was a done deal until Shashank Singh came into the picture. He laid the foundation of some stability in the chase. After him, Ashutosh Sharma and Harpreet Brar kept the momentum going. In the last over, Punjab needed 12 runs. It was an absolute doable thing except that Kagiso Rabada took the chance of taking another run. He was run out and thus ended Punjab’s dream of thrilling victory at home.  

For MI, Jasprit Bumrah’s 3-21 spell helped them in dominating the game. Another MI bowler who picked up three wickets was Gerald Coetzee. But he was slightly expensive as he conceded 40 runs.  

Punjab Kings vs Mumbai Indians scorecard

Punjab Kings:

  • Sam Curran c Ishan Kishan b Bumrah 6
  • Prabhsimran Singh c Ishan Kishan b Coetzee 0
  • Rilee Rossouw b Bumrah 1
  • Liam Livingstone c&b Coetzee 1
  • Harpreet Singh c&b Gopal 13
  • Shashank Singh c Tilak Varma b Bumrah 41
  • Jitesh Sharma lbw b Madhwal 9
  • Ashutosh Sharma c Mohammad Nabi b Coetzee 61
  • Harpreet Brar c Mohammad Nabi b Pandya 21
  • Harshal Patel not out 1
  • Kagiso Rabada run out (Mohammad Nabi/Ishan Kishan) 8 Extras: (LB-5, NB-2, W-14) 21
  • Total: (All out in 19.1 overs) 183
  • Fall of wickets: 1-10, 2-13, 3-14, 4-14, 5-49, 6-77, 7-111, 8-168, 9-174, 10-183 Bowling: Gerald Coetzee 4-0-32-3, Jasprit Bumrah 4-0-21-3, Akash Madhwal 3.1-0-46-1, Hardik Pandya 4-0-33-1, Shreyas Gopal 2-0-26-1, Romario Shepherd 2-0-20-0.

MI innings:

  • Ishan Kishan c Brar b Rabada 8
  • Rohit Sharma c Brar b Curran 36
  • Suryakumar Yadav c Prabhsimran b Curran 78
  • Tilak Varma not out 34
  • Hardik Pandya (c) c Brar b Patel 10
  • Tim David c Curran b Patel 14
  • Romario Shepherd c Shashank b Patel 1
  • Mohammad Nabi run out (Patel) 0
  • Extras: (B-1, LB-5, W-5) 11
  • Total: (For 7 wickets in 20 overs) 192
  • Fall of wickets: 1-18, 2-99, 3-148, 4-167, 5-190, 6-192, 7-192.
  • Bowling: Liam Livingstone 2-0-16-0, Arshdeep Singh 3-0-35-0, Kagiso Rabada 4-0-42-1, Harshal Patel 4-0-31-3, Sam Curran 4-0-41-2, Harpreet Brar 3-0-21-0.