On a night where two openers of their respective sides carried their bats, it was Prabhsimran Singh‘s magical 80 off 39 balls that upstaged Quinton de Kock’s 3rd IPL ton as PBKS thrashed MI by 7 wickets with 21 balls to spare. Prabhsimran Singh dazzled under the lights in Mumbai. MI were put into bat first, and thanks to a superlative unbeaten ton from Quinton de Kock, they reached 195/6 in 20 overs. The others played their part as well.
In reply, Prabhsimran Singh made MI pay for the dropped catch by Bumrah when he was batting on 11*, as he carried on and punished the MI team and scored an unbeaten 80 off 39 balls, and he was ably supported by Shreyas Iyer, the captain, who made 66 off 35 balls as their 139-run stand flattened the MI side totally. MI looked toothless in all facets of the game. So, PBKS go to the top of the points table with 9 points from 5 games. MI stays in 9th place below CSK and above KKR at this stage.
Quinton de Kock’s superlative ton powers MI to 195/6
Put into bat first by Shreyas Iyer, Ryan Rickelton, and Quinton de Kock came out to bat for MI, while Arshdeep Singh had the ball in hand for PBKS. Arshdeep was on the money and bowled a great first over. MI got off to a shaky start as the score reached 12 before Ryan Rickelton fell for 2 off 8 balls to Arshdeep. Suryakumar Yadav came in next, and he went for a golden duck as Arshdeep had two in two balls. Naman Dhir came out to bat next and survived the hat-trick ball.
Things could have been even better for the Punjab Kings as at the score of 25, with Naman unbeaten on 10, as Yuzvendra Chahal dropped him at short fine leg as a sitter was put down. There was no looking back for MI after this point as Naman turned it on inside the power play. Quinton also survived a scare as Shreyas Iyer missed a run-out chance. But it was Naman who was doing the heavy lifting. The scoring rate improved slowly as MI reached 48/2 in 6 overs.
The duo went beyond the power play and blazed away in the middle phase. Quinton de Kock switched gears post the power play, and he dazzled under the Wankhede lights in Mumbai. This was his first match this season, and it never looked like he was out of nick. Naman complimented him well as the duo put on an important century stand for the third wicket. Naman slowed down a tad while Quinton de Kock was unstoppable as the middle phase went their way.
The duo put on 122 runs for the third wicket before Shashank Singh’s introduction worked wonders for his side as he broke the stand, dismissing Naman Dhir for 50 off 31 balls with 3 fours and 3 sixes to his name. Captain Hardik Pandya came out to bat next and found no timing out there and struggled to time the runs. There was no problem as such for Quinton as he calmly reached his 3rd IPL ton, and what a stage to do it.
Hardik finally hit a maximum as the duo added 41 runs for the 4th wicket before Pandya fell for 14 off 12 balls with a maximum to his name, thanks to an excellent catch at long-on by Shreyas Iyer, who did well to pull it back in play, while Bartlett completed the catch. Sherfane Rutherford came out to bat next. The Punjab Kings bowlers came back well towards the end overs and bowled really well to Rutherford, who could not get it away.
Just 7 runs were added to the total before Rutherford was cleaned up by a yorker from Arshdeep, who picked up his third wicket. Tilak Varma came out to bat with 7 balls left. He struck two boundaries to try and give the finishing kick, but was run out for 8 off 3 balls with 2 fours to his name. Mayank Rawat came out to bat next and remained unbeaten on 0 off 0 balls. Quinton managed to get a brace off the final ball of the innings as MI finished with a competitive 195/6 in 20 overs. Quinton carried his bat for his unbeaten 112 off 60 balls with 8 fours and 7 sixes to his name. 8 extras given by the fielding side.
Punjab Kings came back well with the ball towards the end overs after starting well initially. Arshdeep Singh was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 3/22 in 4 overs. Marco Jansen finished with figures of 1/30 in 4 overs. Shashank Singh chipped in with 1/19 in 2 overs. Xavier Bartlett finished with 0/39 in 4 overs. Vyashak Vijaykumar finished with 0/36 in 3 overs. Yuzvendra Chahal finished with 0/45 in 3 overs. This meant that the target for PBKS was 196 runs off 20 overs.
Prabhsimran Singh & Shreyas Iyer blow away MI by 7 wickets
Chasing 196 for the win, Priyansh Arya and keeper batter Prabhsimran Singh came out to open for PBKS. Deepak Chahar had the ball in hand for MI. Punjab started on the front foot as the duo smashed 21 runs off the opening over, bowled by Deepak Chahar. The duo did not last long as they put on 27 for the first wicket before Arya went for 15 off 9 balls with 2 fours and one six to his name to Allah Ghazanfar. Cooper Connolly came out to bat next.
The turning point of the game was the first ball of the 4th over. The score for PBKS was 27, and Prabhsimran was unbeaten on 11 off 5 balls when Hardik Pandya came to bowl. Prabhsimran cut it away to a backward point where Jasprit Bumrah put down a relatively easy chance. Singh got the lifeline and made MI pay later on. Connolly played his shots and got in as they added 18 runs for the second wicket before Connolly fell for 17 off 12 balls with one four and two sixes to his name to Ghazanfar.
Captain Shreyas Iyer came out to bat next. Iyer took his time initially, but after they got set out there in the middle, he went ballistic. It was the Prabhsimran Singh-Shreyas Iyer show as they dazzled under the lights in Mumbai with dew coming in as well. Mumbai bowlers went on a journey and looked toothless. Jasprit Bumrah was wicketless yet again. Both the batters went after the bowling. Prabhsimran made the Mumbai team pay for the missed opportunity while Shreyas was a class apart.
The captain is a class apart, who always leads from the front and looks determined out there. Yes, he was miscuing the balls a little bit, but he was largely in control of the chase. The duo just paced the innings perfectly and never allowed the required rate to skyrocket. They kept it under check, and both completed their half-centuries and went beyond that. The duo added a match-winning 139-run stand off just 67 balls before Iyer fell for 66 off 35 balls with 5 fours and 4 sixes to his name to Shardul Thakur, with just 12 needed for the win.
Marcus Stoinis came out to bat next and hit two boundaries, which included the winning runs as PBKS streamrolled the finishing line by 7 wickets with 21 balls to spare. Prabhsimran Singh was unbeaten on 80 off 39 balls with 11 fours and 2 sixes to his name, while Stoinis was unbeaten on 10 off 5 balls with 2 fours to his name as PBKS made 198/3 in 16.3 overs with 10 extras given by the fielding side.
MI were once again not at their best with the ball, nor in the field. Allah Ghazanfar, the Impact Player, was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 2/31 in 4 overs. Shardul Thakur finished with 1/42 in 3 overs. The others remained wicketless. Deepak Chahar bowled 2.3 overs and went for 45 runs. Jasprit Bumrah finished with 0/41 in 4 overs. Hardik Pandya, the captain, finished with 0/39 in 3 overs. So, PBKS thrashes MI by 7 wickets with 21 balls to spare. Arshdeep Singh was awarded the Player of the Match as PBKS sit at the top of the points table.
What Lies Ahead
So, PBKS are flying high and are the only unbeaten side in the competition. They are on top of the points table and will next face LSG at home in New Chandigarh, Mullanpur. While MI lost their 4th consecutive match and will next travel to Ahmedabad to face GT on Monday night. Time running out for the 5-time champions, MI. We have another game tomorrow where GT will host bottom-placed KKR in Ahmedabad tomorrow night.
Let’s see how things unfold in Ahmedabad in that crucial clash for the visitors. KKR needs a win desperately.
Also Read: MI vs PBKS: Quinton De Kock’s Magnificent Ton Sets Huge Target For PBKS