Finally, Mumbai Indians (MI) discovered the winning way to stay alive in the tourney, as of now. It was a stupendous knock from Pandya brothers which was nicely anchored by skipper Rohit Sharma – to clinch the victory by bettering the nerves when Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) looked like pocketing the victory.
KXIP innings: Chris Gayle hits again but Mumbai pulled it back
Indians’ skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and asked the home side to put on a total for the chase.
The swashbucklers, KL Rahul and Chris Gayle started the things off in a flash by smacking Mumbai bowlers to all corners of the park. However, Mayank Markande once again produced the breakthrough for Mumbai by sending KL Rahul back to the hut.
Yuvraj Singh, who came to bat at number three couldn’t find his feet thus handing the pressure on Gayle.
The experienced campaigner Gayle comes to the party by smashing his fourth fifty-plus score in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018 and was looking all set for a big knock. But, the cool move from Rohit to hand the ball to Ben Cutting bagged them Gayle’s wicket while Yuvraj misjudged a single to find the wrong side of the things.
Quick Read: IPL 2018: Match 34, KXIP vs MI – Indians Players Ratings
Interestingly, KXIP promoted Axar Patel ahead of Marcus Stoinis and Mayank Agarwal which ended up proving costly for the team.
Axar innings came to an end when McClenaghan got better of him. However, the blitz from Karun Nair, Agarwal, and Stoinis, in the end, handed a competitive total of 174 runs on the board.
Mumbai Innings: A quality chase under the pressure
In reply to the chase, Suryakumar Yadav was again at his best as he took the role of chef scorer in the powerplay.
Evin Lewis was completely looked in an off-colour and was the first one to walk off the park in a must-win encounter, courtesy, Mujeeb Zadran.
Ishan Kishan who came to bat at number three batted brilliantly to keep them in the game but unfortunately run rate has never settled.
However, Hardik Pandya and Rohit took the attack to the opposition to get back the momentum in favour of Mumbai Indians.
When it required a solid knock from one of the batsmen, Krunal Pandya provided a magical knock to see his side cross the victory ropes. He smashed a stunning 31 off just 12 balls while Rohit scored a valuable 25* off 14.
The win ensured Mumbai Indians to stay alive in the tourney with six points in their kitty.
Whereas, Punjab shrunk their playoff chances a bit. But, their victories in the first-half of the tournament will do a world of good for them.
Also, Read: IPL: Mumbai beat Punjab by six wickets