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Indore, May 4: All-rounder Krunal Pandya once again came to Mumbai Indians' rescue with a blistering knock of 12-ball 31 as MI chased down the target of 175 and defeated Kings XI Punjab by 6 wickets in a must-win game here in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018 on Friday (May 4).
Opener Suryakumar Yadav played another fine innings as he slammed his third half-century of the season while skipper Rohit Sharma remained unbeaten at 24 (15 balls) to guide his team to a fine win at Holkar Stadium.
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Krunal also saved his younger brother Hardik Pandya from facing the ire of the fans as latter got out at a critical situation in the match and had also conceded 22 runs off the final over he bowled. Hardik's over could have very well proved to be game-changing over for his team because that particular over shifted the momentum in Punjab's favour.
Chasing a target of 175 from 120 balls, Mumbai lost their opener, Evin Lewis, cheaply again. The West Indian batsman was dismissed for 10 (13 balls) by Afghan spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman after skipper R Ashwin introduced him in the powerplay.
The Caribbean left-hander Lewis (204 in 8 games) has not been able to replicate his form in international matches and that reflects the poor opening start MI have got in this tournament.
The opening stands in eight games has so far yielded: 7, 11, 102, 0, 1, 12, 69, 5, 38 (tonight). A look at the statistics will reveal that MI have got a solid foundation in only two games. Lewis was brought into the side in place of Keiron Pollard, but that didn't yield them any dividends.
Rohit Sharma has remained not out 17 times when chasing in IPL and his teams have won every time - 4 times for Deccan Chargers and 13 times for Mumbai Indians. #KXIPvMI
— Bharath Seervi (@SeerviBharath) May 4, 2018
Suryakumar notched up his half-century off 38 but couldn't capitalise upon the start he got and many left that he left his team in the lurch. He went for a front-foot slog against Stoinis but mistimed the ball only to be pouched safely by glovesman Lokesh Rahul. Yadav should have tried to finish the innings for his team and batted longer.
Ishan Kishan (25 off 19) played some good strokes before he too was cleaned up by Mujeeb. Hardik Pandya, whom Rohit promoted ahead of himself, too couldn't do much with the bat as he was dismissed by Andrew Tye for 23 (13 balls). Team management hoped Hardik would finish for his team in the must-win game but the right-handed batsman couldn't do so.
But Krunal and Rohit, who came in to bat at No. 5, ensured the team reach home without further hiccups. Together they shared 56-runs between them and helped Mumbai reach home with six wickets and as many balls to spare.
ROHIT SHARMA becomes the first INDIAN to hit 300 SIXES in the Twenty20 format. He is the 7th player overall to hit 300 sixes in this format. #IPL2018 #KXIPvMI
— Sampath Bandarupalli (@SampathStats) May 4, 2018
Earlier, Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Rohit Sharma won yet another toss and invited Kings XI Punjab skipper R Ashwin to bat first. Mumbai made just one change to their playing eleven by replacing out of form Kieron Pollard with Evin Lewis.
Punjab, on the other hand, made three changes to their side. Yuvraj Singh, Axar Patel and Marcus Stoinis have made their way back into the side for KXIP as the team plays the first game on their adopted home i.e. Holkar Stadium in Indore.
Mumbai bowlers put up a brave show with the ball and had almost restricted their opponents to a low total before a fiery cameo from Marcus Stoinis took Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) to a respectable 174/6.
Kings XI Punjab's innings today saw......
— Rajneesh Gupta (@rgcricket) May 4, 2018
500th six hit in #IPL2018
7000th six hit in #IPL#KXIPvMI #MIvKXIP
Chris Gayle slammed his third fifty of the season, and 24th overall in IPL, while Stoinis smashed 15-ball 29 - 21 of those came in the final over bowled by Hardik Pandya - as R Ashwin's men managed to reach a respectable total.
KL Rahul (24) once again started things in style but his stay at the crease didn't last long as he was dismissed by Mayank Markande immediately after the powerplay. Rahul tried to pull the young spinner for a maximum but found JP Duminy in the deep. The talented Karnataka batsman's innings was studded with two sixes and a boundary. But by the time he was dismissed, he had already stitched another 50-plus opening stand with Gayle.
KXIP's batting is completely reliant on Gayle and Rahul. #KXIPvMI https://t.co/I0JZhZZ80h
— Bharath Seervi (@SeerviBharath) May 4, 2018
Gayle, who seemed a little slow in the beginning, went on to score his 24th IPL fifty off 38 balls. The Universe Boss, however, couldn't convert his half-century into another big score as he was dismissed for 50 by Ben Cutting. The Jamaican smashed six fours and two sixes during his stay at the crease at the historic Holkar Stadium.
Yuvraj Singh, who made a comeback into the side after being dropped in the previous game, looked in fine touch as he was promoted up in the batting order. But the left-handed batsman, who is still searching his form in the tournament, was involved in a mixup with his batting partner Karun Nair at the other end and ran himself out. The southpaw had scored 14 off 14 deliveries before a throw from Evin Lewis ensured Yuvraj fell short of the crease.
No other batsman could do much as wickets kept falling at regular interval and credit for the same goes to disciplined bowling effort from Mumbai.
Karun Nair (23 off 12), Akshar Patel (13 off 12) and Mayank Agarwal (11 off 7) couldn't do much damage in the middle overs. However, a late cameo from Stoinis guided his team to a respectable total as he alone plundered 21 runs from the final over bowled by Hardik. Hardik leaked 22 runs from the final over as he kept bowling with pace on a track where rest of the pacers were bowling slowers.
Bumrah's 23 deliveries after conceding that first-ball six.
— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) May 4, 2018
1,0,0,0,0,1,0,1,0,1,1, 0,1,1,1,W,0,1,0,1,1,2,1 👏👏👏
WHO LOVES @Jaspritbumrah93? 💙💙💙💙
#CricketMeriJaan #MumbaiIndians #KXIPvMI pic.twitter.com/kVHbCYwNlU
Jasprit Bumrah (4-0-19-1) and Mitchell McClenaghan (4-0-31-1) once again looked at their best. The pacers bowled well with the new ball and maintained same intensity in the death overs as well. Mayank Markande (3-0-29-1) and Ben Cutting (3-0-28-1) also got one wicket apiece as skipper Rohit Sharma rotated his bowlers exceptionally well.
With this win, Mumbai have kept their play-offs hopes alive as they have climbed to the fifth spot in the points table. But they still have a monumental task ahead of them for they'll have to win all the remaining five games.
As for Kings XI Punjab, it seemed they looked a bit rusty after coming to the field after a gap of seven days. They might have done well with the ball but their batting remains a concern especially the middle order.
