Picture : Twitter / IPL
In a much awaited contest in Chennai, Punjab Kings beat defending champions Mumbai Indians by 9 wickets to end their three match losing streak.
Punjab Skipper K L Rahul was bold enough to win the toss and bowl first knowing the Mumbai Indians batting fire- power. But his bowlers rose to the occasion and choked Mumbai Indians and restricted them to a modest total . It was a terrific effort . Quinton de Kock’s poor form continued with 3. Ishan Kishan struggled for 17 ball 6. Suryakumar Yadav promised much big but fell for 33. Skipper Rohit Sharma was slow in the start and survived few DRS appeals and run-out attempts to score a 52 ball 63 with five fours and two sixes. Hardik Pandya too is struggling for form ( 1), Krunal Pandya ( 3) has flopped with the bat so far. Kieron Pollard was unbeaten on 16. Mumbai finishing at a low 131/6 in their 20 overs .
For Punjab the bowling was disciplined right through. Opening the bowling Moises Henriques 0/12 ( 3 overs), Deepak Hooda 1/15 ( 3 overs), Mohammed Shami 2/21 ( 4 overs) some return to form and wickets , Ravi Bishnoi 2/21 ( 4 overs) was impressive with his wily spin, Fabian Allen0/30 ( 3 overs), Arshdeep Singh 1/28 ( 3 overs)
Defending a low total, Mumbai had earlier defended successfully but 131 was a bit too low . Punjab Openers Skipper KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal started with positive aggressive intent from the start . Mumbai Skipper Rohit Sharma could only watch helplessly and shake his head in despair . Rahul and Agarwal put on 53 in 7.2 overs before Mayank fell for 25 off 20 balls. There was no further jitters as Skipper Rahul and Universe Boss Chris Gayle remained unbeaten with their 79 run stand and saw the team home comfortably . Rahul hit the winning four and remained not out on 60 off 52 balls with three fours and three sixes. Gayle got some runs under his belt and this could well be ominous for the side in the future games. He was not on out 43 off 35 balls with five fours and two sixes. Punjab finishing at 132 /1 in 17.4 overs
Mumbai Indians bowlers did not have the target to defend and they faltered. Trent Boult 0/30 ( 2 .4 overs), Jasprit Bumrah 0/21 ( 3 overs), Krunal Pandya 0/31 ( 3 overs), Rahul Chahar 1/19 ( 4 overs), Jayant Yadav 0/20 ( 4 overs), Kieron Pollard 0/11 ( 1 over)
