Punjab Kings registered their fourth win of IPL 2023 as they beat Mumbai Indians in Match 31 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Captain Sam Curran’s momentum-changing innings of 55 (29), Harpreet Singh’s attacking 41(28) coupled with Jitesh Sharma’s power-packed came of 25(7) powered PBKS to 214/8. Arshdeep Singh then bowled a splendid spell of 4/29 as PBKS survived Cameron Green (67 off 43), Suryakumar Yadav (57 off 26) and Tim David (25* off 13) blitzes to win the match by 13 runs.
Chasing 215, Mumbai Indians were jolted early as Arshdeep Singh had Ishan Kishan brilliantly caught by Matthew Short at deep backward point.
Rohit Sharma and Cameron Green then combined elegance with power to counter-attack and hit three sixes and four fours and take the score to 54/1 at the end of the Powerplay.
After a couple of quiet overs, Rohit lofted one straight down the ground for a six off Chahar and then paddled one to fine leg for a four as MI amassed 13 from the over.
The 44-run stand was finally broken by Liam Livingstone as he had Rohit Sharma caught and bowled as MI reached 88/2 at the halfway mark. Suryakumar Yadav got into the groove quickly as he went on a boundary-hitting spree. He cracked a four off Chahar and then three fours in a row off Livingstone before smacking a six each off Ellis and Curran. Green then took the attacking approach hitting six and a four off Chahar as MI amassed 54 from the 12-15 overs phase.
Green went after Ellis, hitting him for a massive 108m six and a four wide of long off but the Australian pacer bounced back to dismiss Green (67 off 43) off a slower one, caught at extra cover as he miscued one high in the air.
Suryakumar then brought up his fifty off just 23 balls paddling one for four, off Curran as MI took 14 runs off the 17th over. With 40 needed off 18, Tim David whipped one over deep square leg for a six off Arshdeep but the PBKS pacer got the huge wicket of Suryakumar Yadav (57 off 26), caught at mid-wicket. Arshdeep bounced back well in the over and gave away just 9. With 31 needed off 12, David smashed a monster 114m six off Ellis off the second ball of the over and there were four twos as well in the over as they took 15 from the penultimate over.
With 16 needed off the last over, Arsheep gave away just one off the first two balls. He then went on a stump-breaking spree, cleaning up Tilak Varma and Impact Player Nehal Wadhera off consecutive balls, breaking the middle stumps off both balls off cracking yorkers. He couldn’t get his hat-trick but gave away just one off the next two as PBKS won the match by 13 runs.
Arshdeep bowled a splendid last over, conceding just two runs and picking up two wickets.
Earlier, Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bowl. The home team made one change to the starting XI as Jofra Archer replaced Nehal Wadhera. They named Nehal Wadhera, Vishnu Vinod, Ramandeep Singh, Kumar Kartiyeya and Shams Mulani as their substitutes.
Sam Curran was leading Punjab Kings again in place of the injured Shikhar Dhawan who still hadn’t recovered. The away side made one change to the starting eleven as Prabhsimran Singh replaced Nathan Ellis. They named Nathan Ellis, Mohit Rathee, Sikandar Raza, Rishi Dhawan and Gurnoor Brar as their substitutes.
Mumbai Indians started off well and got the early wicket of Mattew Short in the third over. Arjun Tendulkar gave away just five in the first over. Short got things going with a couple of fours but Cameron Green made sure his innings was cut short as he had him caught at mid-wicket off a short ball. Prabhsimran Singh, who has been in good form, then got going with two sixes behind square leg off Behrendorff to take 16 off the fourth over. Atharva Taide also opened his boundary account with a six, guiding one over third man, off Jofra Archer. The duo hit a four each off Piyush Chawla in the last over of the powerplay to take the score to 58/1.
With PBKS gaining some momentum, Rohit Sharma brought back Arjun Tendulkar and the move worked as he dismissed Prabhsimran Singh LBW with a cracking yorker. The PBKS batter reviewed it but ball-tracking showed three reds. Chawla bowled a very good next over to Liam Livingstone and gave away just one run and then jolted the away side with two strikes in one over. He foxed Liam Livingstone, darting one down the leg side – flatter and quicker, as Livingstone charged down the track and Kishan pulled off a very good stumping as the ball was out of the reach of the batter and he was found well short. Two balls later, he made Atharva Taide drag one onto the stumps off a googly as PBKS reached 83/4 at the halfway mark.
Mumbai Indians largely kept it tight over the next four overs before Curran and Harpreet Singh hit 13 off Hrithik Shokeen’s 15th over. PBKS went on the attack from then on and the tables turned. Curran went after Arjun Tendulkar, smacking a six straight down the ground and going for it again but getting an outside edge to third man for a streaky four. Harpreet Singh too joined the party as he hit a couple of fours and a six in the over to make it 31 runs off the over.
Curran and Harpreet took 13 off the next over from Archer. Curran then cracked a couple off sixes off Green but the MI all-rounder bounced back to break the 91-run stand (off 50 balls) as he made Harpreet Singh (41 off 28) drag one onto the stumps. Jitesh Sharma came out all guns blazing to hit sixes off his first two balls as PBKS accumulated 25 runs from the penultimate over from Green.
Captain Curran (55 off 29) crashed a couple of fours off Archer to bring up his third IPL fifty but Archer sent him back with a fiery short ball, having him caught and bowled off the final ball of the over.
Jitesh Sharma smacked two more sixes off Behrendorff in the final over before the left-arm pacer cleaned him up off the slower ball. Brar hit a four first ball but was run out off the last ball of the innings as PBKS posted a daunting 214/8. The away side hammered 96/4 in the last five overs.
PBKS brought in Nathan Ellis as their Impact Player, replacing Prabhsimran Singh, at the start of their bowling innings.
