Tilak Varma came good under pressure and played a masterful innings, and stayed there till the end. Tilak Varma‘s unbeaten 75 paved the way for MI to spoil PBKS’ party and dent their chances of qualification for the playoffs. PBKS batted first, and Prabhsimran Singh rode his luck, scoring 57 runs, while Shardul Thakur was the star, taking 4 wickets, while Azmatullah Omarzai chipped in with 38 runs. Cameos came from down the order to take the score to 200/8 in 20 overs.
In reply, Rohit Sharma struggled, and so did Sherfane Rutherford. But Ryan Rickelton gave the team a fast start in power play with 48 runs off 24 balls, and then it was the Tilak Varma show as his unbeaten 75 off 33 balls alongside Will Jacks’ 25* off 10 balls paved the way for MI to get over the line by 6 wickets with one ball to spare to spoil the chances of PBKS. PBKS now have work to do to enter the playoffs.
Shardul Thakur’s 4-Wicket Haul keeps PBKS down to 200/8
Put into bat first, Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh came out to open for PBKS while Deepak Chahar had the ball in hand for MI. The opening duo started solidly with Prabhsimran, while batting on 5*, was dropped by Naman Dhir at first slip of the captain for the night, Jasprit Bumrah. Arya and Singh got their eyes and played their shots as well. The duo once again put on 50 for the first wicket inside the power play before Arya’s not-so-fluent innings came to an end on 22 off 17 balls with 4 fours to his name as he was cleaned by Deepak Chahar.
Cooper Connolly came out to bat next. Prabhsimran Singh got a boundary away as PBKS reached 55/1 in 6 overs of power play. The duo carried that on in the initial part of the middle phase as well. Prabhsimran was again dropped, a tough chance off his own bowling by Corbin Bosch. The duo put on 57 for the second wicket with the young opener completing yet another fifty. Prabhsimran fell when the score was 107 as he scored 57 off 32 balls with 6 fours and 4 sixes to his name against Shardul Thakur.
Captain Shreyas Iyer came out to bat and got off the mark with a boundary. But in the very next ball, Iyer fell as just 4 runs were added to the score before the captain fell for 4 off 2 balls with one boundary away to Thakur, who had two in the over. Suryansh Shedge came out to bat next. PBKS lost another when the score was 111 as Cooper Connolly fell for 21 off 22 balls with 2 fours and a maximum to his name as he was cleaned up by Raj Angad Bawa. Shashank Singh came out to bat next.
Shedge and Singh added 12 runs to the score before Shedge fell for 8 off 5 balls with a maximum to his name to Thakur yet again. Azmatullah Omarzai came out to bat next. The duo of Singh and Omarzai added 12 runs to the tally before Shashank fell for 2 off 3 balls to Corbin Bosch. Marco Jansen came out to bat as the Kings lost their way in the middle phase of the game. Omarzai had begun to look good out there. Just 5 runs were added to the tally before Jansen fell for 2 off 7 balls to Thakur. Vishnu Vinod, the impact player, came out to bat next with the score at 140/7 in 16.2 overs.
Vinod and Omarzai took advantage of Mumbai’s sloppy bowling in the death overs. Vinod made an immediate impact while Omarzai was playing a nice cameo. The duo added a valuable 26 runs for the 8th wicket before the set batter Omarzai fell for a quickfire 38 off 17 balls with 2 fours and 4 sixes to his name to Deepak Chahar. The Kings were 166/8 in 18 overs when Xavier Bartlett joined Vinod in the middle. Corbin Bosch came to bowl the 19th over.
Bosch was taken to the cleaners as the duo of Vinod and Bartlett took tole of sloppy bowling by the Mumbai Indians. Bartlett was hitting it cleanly, and so was Vinod. 22 runs came off the 19th over, and that shifted the momentum in favour of the Punjab Kings. Bumrah bowled the final over that yielded 12 runs as PBKS exactly got to 200/8 in 20 overs. Vinod was unbeaten on 15 off 8 balls with one four and one six to his name, while Bartlett was unbeaten on 18 off 7 balls with 2 fours and one six to his name. 13 extras given by the fielding side.
Shardul Thakur was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 4/39 in 4 overs. Deepak Chahar finished with 2/36 in 4 overs. Corbin Bosch finished with 1/42 in 4 overs. Raj Angad Bawa finished with 1/11 in 1 over. Jasprit Bumrah finished with 0/36 in 4 overs. Raghu Sharma finished with 0/22 in 2 overs. Will Jacks finished with 0/9 in 1 over. This meant that the Mumbai Indians needed 201 to win and spoil the PBKS’ party.
Tilak Varma’s outstanding unbeaten 75 off 33 balls takes MI over the line with 6 wickets and a ball to spare.Â
Chasing 201 for the win, Impact Player Rohit Sharma and keeper batter Ryan Rickelton came out to open for MI while Arshdeep Singh had the ball in hand for PBKS. It was a struggle for Rohit Sharma as he struggled with timing and was limping a bit. But he hung in there. Ryan Rickelton started quickly off the blocks and dominated the power play phase. The duo made sure MI got to 59/0 in 6 overs. They put on 61 for the first wicket before Rickelton, who scored the bulk of the runs, fell for 48 off 23 balls with 4 fours and 4 sixes to his name, to Azmatullah Omarzai.
Naman Dhir came out to bat next and got a maximum away as well. Rohit was overhitting the ball but was hanging in there. The duo of Rohit and Naman put on 20 runs for the second wicket before Naman fell for 9 off 6 balls with one six to his name to Marco Jansen. Tilak Varma came out to bat next. Just 7 runs were added to the tally before the Impact Player Rohit was cleaned up by Yuzvendra Chahal for 25 off 26 balls with 2 sixes to his name.
Sherfane Rutherford came out to bat next with the score at 88/3 in 9.3 overs. It was the Tilak Varma show from hereon, as Rutherford struggled with his stay for timing, going less than a run a ball. Tilak just carried on while Rutherford did well to hang in there for his side’s cause. The duo added a vital 61-run stand for the 4th wicket to bring MI back on track before Rutherford fell for 20 off 21 balls with one four and one six to his name to Omarzai. Will Jacks came out to bat next with 52 needed off 21 balls.
The MI team needed 50 off the last 18 balls, and they took Marco Jansen to the cleaners, hitting him for 22 runs, with Tilak Varma doing most of the damage, and he was ably assisted by Will Jacks, who played his part because Tilak couldn’t do it alone. The duo brought the equation down to 28 off 12 balls, and then Arshdeep bowled the 19th over.
The duo took 13 runs off him to bring the equation down to 15 off 6 balls. Will Jacks hit the first ball of the over for the maximum and then took a single. Tilak missed out on the next ball and then hit the next two balls out of the ground for flat sixes as MI pulled off a heist to get over the line. Tilak was unbeaten on 75 off 33 balls with 6 fours and 6 sixes to his name, while Will Jacks was unbeaten on 25 off 10 balls with 2 fours and 2 sixes to his name as MI finished with 205/4 in 19.5 overs. 3 extras given by PBKS bowlers.
For PBKS, it was a mixed outing. Azmatullah Omarzai finished with 2/36 in 4 overs. Yuzvendra Chahal finished with figures of 1/32 in 4 overs. Marco Jansen finished with 1/55 in 4 overs. Arshdeep Singh finished with 0/29 in 4 overs. Xavier Bartlett finished with 0/53 in 3.5 overs. So, MI spoils PBKS’ party, winning by 6 wickets with one ball to spare. Tilak Varma was awarded the Player of the Match.
What Lies Ahead
So, MI have upstaged PBKS and have dented their chances for a playoff spot. PBKS next will face RCB on Sunday afternoon in Dharamsala, while MI, who are already out of the reckoning, will next face KKR in Kolkata on 20th May. Another huge game coming our way tomorrow as already eliminated LSG hosts CSK, who are hampered with injuries but have their playoff hopes alive. So, a lot to look forward to on Friday night at the Ekana Stadium.
Let’s see how this game pans out tomorrow night in a must-win game for the Men in Yellow.
Also Read: PBKS vs MI: Shardul Thakur’s 4-Wicket Haul Keeps PBKS Down To 200/8