With a six-wicket triumph over Punjab Kings, Mumbai Indians got off to a winning start in the UAE's second round. While the bowlers held PBKS to 135/6, Saurabh Tiwary, Hardik, and Pollard played outstanding innings to help MI reach the goal.
KL Rahul in response, the Mumbai Indians got off to a bad start, with Ravi Bishnoi picking up two wickets in the same over. He removed Rohit Sharma for 8 and then outfoxed Suryakumar Yadav with a top-class googly the following ball to castle his time. MI's chase was stabilised by Saurabh Tiwary and de Kock, who took the team to 54/2 after 9 overs.
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Before Mohammed Shami cleaned out de Kock on 27, the two southpaws put up 45 runs for the third wicket. Tiwary bowled a masterpiece of an innings, hitting 45 runs to help MI finish strong. Hardik Pandya took over the run-scoring responsibilities after Nathan Ellis was sent packing. He blasted an unbeaten 30-ball 40 alongside Pollard (15 off 7*) to help MI to a 6-wicket win with 6 balls to spare.
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However, the MI bowlers fought back in the following three overs, taking four wickets for only 15 runs. Krunal Pandya first caught Mandeep LBW for 14 runs. Kieron Pollard took two wickets in the following over, dismissing Chris Gayle (1) and Rahul (21) on consecutive balls to take T20 cricket's 300th wicket.
In the following over, Jasprit Bumrah outfoxed Nicholas Pooran with a slower-ball yorker, leaving Punjab four down. Aiden Markram (42) and Deepak Hooda (42) then steadied PBKS' ship with a vital 61-run fifth-wicket stand. By castingling Markarm's off stump, Rahul Chahar broke the partnership. MI finally restricted Punjab Kings to 135/6 in 20 overs as Bumrah returned to remove Deepak Hooda for 28.
"Good fight from the bowlers, but we didn't score enough. This was the best deck we have played on. We should've got 170. The next three games will be really interesting for us. We haven't been able to handle the pressure over the tournament. Take it one game at a time will be the chat. We will also try to enjoy the games and not worry about the results. All the UAE games for us have gone to the wire,” KL Rahul, losing captain said in post match presentation.
Hardik Pandya proving once again why he is the finest finisher in the world. The Mumbai Indians needed a win like this to strengthen their season this year. This was the defending champions' first win since the competition was resumed in the UAE, and they are presently in fifth place in the points standings with 10 points, very much in contention for the playoffs. Punjab Kings have lost yet another close game, dropping to sixth place in the points standings with eight points in their hand.