Today was a glimpse into the future of Mumbai as Tilak Varma and Dewald Brevis, dubbed ‘Baby AB’ after AB de Villiers, clubbed Punjab Kings bowlers in an exciting partnership that raised their hopes for a brief while.
However, with batting thin on paper, MI struggled to sustain the momentum in a run chase of 199 and eventually lost by 12 runs. Skipper Rohit Sharma had earlier kickstarted the run chase with some brilliant stroke play, but Kagiso Rabada sent him packing with a short ball soon after he was lofted inside out for a six.
It brought Dewald Brevis to the crease, and although he took time to start off, the teenager was in one of those moods and went about smashing Rahul Chahar for four successive sixes in an over that went for 29 runs.
Brevis was relentless with his aggression after MI lost their openers inside the powerplay overs. Alongside Tilak Varma, he compiled a brilliant knock that ended on 49, one short of a rare landmark. Had he reached it, Brevis would have become the youngest overseas player in the Indian Premier League’s history to hit a fifty, but it wasn’t to be this night.
While Brevis was impressive, Varma continued to pile on the runs in what is his debut season. The two 19-year-olds kept Mumbai Indians on course for the run chase with some incredible batting in the middle overs. The partnership gained momentum with the 29-run over off Chahar but continued in the same vein even after Brevis took full toll of some loose bowling.
Even though Punjab dismissed Brevis to end the stand, the partnership had done its job, and Suryakumar Yadav took on from there, once again batting with the lower middle-order as he did against Royal Challengers Bangalore.
While Kieron Pollard failed to make an impact again, Suryakumar found company in Jaydev Unadkat and drew Mumbai close before he holed out off Rabada with the side still further away from the target. MI missed an extra batter in the line-up as they failed to gun the target down, with Yadav’s untimely dismissal denying them what could have been a stunning come-from-behind win.
Earlier, MI won the toss and put PBKS in to bat with Shikhar Dhawan and Mayank Agarwal making merry against some loose powerplay bowling. The duo put on 97 runs for the opening wicket, the highest stand against MI this season, but once the partnership was broken, Mumbai clawed back into the game.
Dhawan went on to bat deep into the middle overs even after Agarwal was dismissed. The left-handed opener compiled 70 in 50 balls while Mayank too notched up his maiden half-century this season. After scores of 1, 4 and 5 in his last three matches, the Punjab Kings skipper found his groove, helped by some wayward bowling from Mumbai.
After Mayank’s dismissal, Jonny Bairstow failed to kick on, and Dhawan too struggled to add momentum to the innings. This resulted in PBKS finishing on a total that should have been much better.
This was until Jitesh Sharma walked in and took full toll of Mumbai attack with some exuberant hitting that saw Punjab score 47 runs in the last three overs. Jitesh remained unbeaten on 30 off just 15 balls, and his cameo, the third such knock in this season, proved to be the difference between the sides as Mumbai came close, but couldn’t breach the total Punjab Kings put up.
Brief scores
Punjab Kings 198/5 in 20 overs (Dhawan 70, Thampi 2/47) beat Mumbai Indians 186/9 in 20 overs (Brevis 49, Suryakumar 43, Odean Smith 4/30) by 12 runs.
