Mumbai Indians emerge on the top, edging past Punjab Kings by nine runs in an edge-of-a-seat thriller. Suryakumar Yadav’s sensational 78 was backed by Jasprit Bumrah and Gerald Coetzee’s three-fers to steal the ball from Ashutosh Sharma and Punjab’s court in a last-over cliffhanger.
Brief Scores: MI: 192/7 [Suryakumar: 78, Rohit: 36; Harshal: 4-0-31-3] lost to PBKS: 183 [Ashutosh: 61, Shashank: 41; Bumrah: 4-0-21-3]
The fortune favored stand-in captain Sam Curran during the toss and he opted to field first in Mullanpur. Ishan Kishan and Rohit Sharma seemed in an attacking mode before the former was outdone by Kagiso Rabada’s short ball in the 3rd over. Subsequently, Suryakumar Yadav joined hands with the former MI captain and kept ticking the scoreboard with regular strike rotation and boundaries. The pair orchestrated 81 runs for the second wicket with the 33-year-old getting to a fifty. While Rohit tried to fancy around in the middle, Sam Curran outsmarted in the 12th over. A 49-run stand followed with Tilak Varma playing second fiddle to the Suryakumar show, articulating a 53-ball 78 before the stand-in skipper struck for the second time. Hardik Pandya followed suit in the 17th over before the lower middle order accumulated 25 runs off the final couple of overs to help MI post 192 runs in 20 overs.
In reply, the MI bowlers were right on the money from the first over as Gerald Coetzee and Jasprit Bumrah snapped two wickets each inside the powerplay to leave the hosts reeling at 14/4 after 2.1 overs. Following a 40-run powerplay, Shreyas Gopal and Akash Madhwal induced the wickets of impact sub-Harpreet Singh Bhatia and Jitesh Sharma with the score reading 87/6 midway through the chase. Just when MI seemed to have the defense in control, Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma lit up the PBKS hopes with flamboyance, gathering 37 runs in the next three overs for the cost of Shashank to Bumrah. However, Ashutosh continued the assault to push Punjab to 141/7 with five overs to spare, including one each of Bumrah and Coetzee. Subsequently, Madhwal’s decent start caved into a 24-run over due to a no-ball, curtailing the equation to 28 required off the last four overs. However, in a twist, Harpreet Brar and Ashutosh opted tk be defensive against Bumrah and Coetzee reaped the resultant reward in the 18th over as Ashutosh holed out in the deep. With 23 runs needed from the last two overs, a six from Rabada trimmed the equation to 12 off six with Madhwal to bowl Unfortunately, Rabada ended up being run out on the first ball itself while trying to steal a double, ending in MI bouncing back from their recent defeat by nine runs.
That was some shot!
Moyee moyeee!
Just how fast time changes…. #MIvsPBKS pic.twitter.com/p0iBWeHMcy
— Hariom Jha (@Hjtalkscricket) April 18, 2024
Mumbai Indians Beat PBKS in Punjab to secure their 3rd WIN of the #IPL2024 in a Thrilling Encounter!!!🔥💪🏻
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Credit to Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma for bringing this game so close!🫡👏🏻
.#MIvsPBKS#IPL2024 #PBKSvMI— Shreyash Santosh🇮🇳 (@Shreyash0417) April 18, 2024
Great talent!
Brilliant team work!
Leader Rohit Sharma’s Tactics won the game for Mumbai Indians!
Hardik Pandya was seen taking valuable tips from Rohit Sharma in last over. He knows the guy who won 5 IPL trophies can pull this chase too ! #PBKSvMI pic.twitter.com/5SQsvxy3hZ— ᴘʀᴀᴛʜᴍᴇsʜ⁴⁵ (@45Fan_Prathmesh) April 18, 2024
What a match 🥵🥵 clearly mind blowing …
Great spell by Jasprit bumrah and Hardik Pandya, coetzee 🔥🔥🔥🔥#PBKSvMI #Mi #HardikPandya #RohitSharma #SRHvsRCB pic.twitter.com/b0kvxGAWtQ— Vɪɴᴀʏ👿 (@Vinay66771021) April 18, 2024
That was good to see!
Munna hi meraa munnaaa!
Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan after the match 🫂. pic.twitter.com/2qQi66SJYe
— Vishal. (@SPORTYVISHAL) April 18, 2024
#Rohitsharma 250th* Match #BloodySweet Victory #MIvPBKS https://t.co/Kvc5gS9owT pic.twitter.com/xbBXNlpQQZ
— Rajkumar YUVI VJᵀⱽᴷ (@SRKRAJKUMAR12) April 18, 2024
So adorable!