An all-round effort from the PBKS bowlers helped them restrict MI to a below par total of 131/6. Mayank Agarwal, KL Rahul and Chris Gayle batted smartly and took them over the line with nine wickets in hand and 14 balls to spare.
It was a clinical effort from the Kings. The bowlers did their job while the famed and power-packed top three got the team home to hand Mumbai Indians their second successive defeat in this IPL 2021.
Most of the Punjab bowlers bowled tight lines and gave nothing away as MI found it tough to break the shackles and get any sort of momentum through their innings. While MI tried to do the same while bowling, KL Rahul and Chris Gayle just hung in there before seizing their moment and taking the team home.
KL Rahul surprised quite a few people after he won the toss and opted to bowl first. It was the first time that Punjab bowled first in this tournament and it was the fifth consecutive time MI batted first. The defending champions were unchanged, while PBKS got in Ravi Bishnoi for Murugan Ashwin.
There was another surprise from Rahul as he started the innings with Moises Henriques and Deepak Hooda, two bowlers who were expected to combine together as the fifth bowling option for PBKS. But the move worked beautifully as the duo conceded just 17 runs in the five overs that they bowled in the powerplay. Moreover, Hooda picked up the wicket of Quinton de Kock as well.
MI also sprung a slight surprise as they promoted Ishan Kishan up to No. 3 ahead of an in-form Suryakumar Yadav. However, it did not work as the left-handed Jharkhand youngster got stuck in the middle. Rohit Sharma got just one boundary in the powerplay as MI recorded the lowest powerplay score of this season – 21/1.
Rohit had scored 13 off 16 balls while Kishan just couldn’t force the pace or even rotate strike as he crawled his way to 5 off 15 at the end of the powerplay. The latter’s miserable stay came to an end as Bishnoi struck in his first over.
At 26/2 in seven overs, MI’s innings was going nowhere. Rohit tried upping the ante as he struck Fabien Allen for two fours and a six in the left-arm spinner’s first two overs, taking 21 runs off them. At the other end, Bishnoi continued to trouble the batters. Suryakumar started fluently and ticked over the strike nicely. The duo helped MI score 48 runs in five overs (10-15) which saw MI go from 49/2 in 10 overs to 97/2 in 15 overs.
The platform was once again set but the pitch wasn’t really aiding shot-making. The onus was on at least one of the set batsmen to bat through and give MI the big flourish. But that never came as Bishnoi had Yadav (33) top-edging a reverse-sweep to short third-man while Shami prized out the MI skipper for 63. Kieron Pollard tried muscling a few but could manage just one six as Punjab conceded just 34 runs in the last five overs.
In reply, Punjab got off to a solid start as Mayank Agarwal, and KL Rahul made full use of the fielding restrictions and found the fence regularly in the powerplay. Krunal Pandya was taken for 15 runs in his first over as Rahul struck a couple of boundaries while Agarwal hit a six. Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult were taken for runs too, as Punjab ended the powerplay 45/0. It was only Rahul Chahar’s over in the powerplay that saw few chances created as the leg-spinner got the ball to turn and bounce.
It was Chahar who got MI their first breakthrough as he had Agarwal holing out to long-on in the 8th over. Agarwal perished for 25, but he had given PBKS the start. But his wicket put the brakes on the scoring rate. Chahar along with Jayant Yadav combined to bowl four overs for just 11 runs. The latter conceded just two runs in his first two overs. Chris Gayle couldn’t get going as he crawled his way to 3 off 10 balls.
However, the Universe Boss broke the shackles and got his first boundary in the 12th over. Yet, Punjab needed 62 off the last eight overs at one stage. MI had taken out a couple of games from similar situations. But Gayle and Rahul didn’t let that happen. They started finding the boundary consistently.
In fact, from the 12th over onwards, there was at least one boundary every over. There was a stage in the innings where either there was a boundary or dot balls. But Punjab got through that as well as the Rahul-Gayle duo notched up an unbeaten 79-run stand which came off 62 balls to take PBKS home.
Rahul finished unbeaten on 60 while Gayle scored 43 not out. Punjab ended their three-match losing streak and moved up to the fifth spot on the points table.
Brief scores
Mumbai Indians 131/6 (Rohit 63, Suryakumar 33, Shami 2/21, Bishnoi 2/21) lost to Punjab Kings 132/1 (Rahul 60*, Gayle 43*, Agarwal 25, Chahar 1/19) by nine wickets
