Mumbai Indians was playing this game after defeating Royal Challengers Bangalore by six runs in a thriller. They were inserted to bat by Kings XI Punjab and named the same playing XI. Mumbai started their innings on a good node and scored some quick runs in the powerplay. Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock shared 51 runs for the first wicket. De Kock scored a fifty and took Mumbai’s total to 176/7 in 20 overs.
In response, Kings XI Punjab got off to a good start. Chris Gayle was looking dangerous and scored some quick runs before getting out. Mayank Agarwal played a good hand to score 43 runs in just 21 balls, where he hit four fours and two sixes. KL Rahul scored a match-winning fifty as Punjab won the game by eight wickets in 18.4 overs.
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MI’s Middle-order crumbled
Mumbai Indians’ middle-order failed against Kings XI Punjab. They failed to convert on a good start provided by Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock up front. Openers shared a 51-run opening stand before Viljeon dismissed the former. None of Suryakumar Yadav, Yuvraj Singh and Kieron Pollard scored in access of 20 runs. At the end, Mumbai managed just 176 runs on the board.
Failed to make early inroads
Mumbai was defending 177 runs with the ball but they failed to make early inroads in Punjab’s batting order. Chris Gayle and KL Rahul played with ease and were didn’t bother by any bowler. Gayle turned his beast mode on and started hitting boundaries but soon got dismissed by Krunal Pandya. However, it was too late for Mumbai as the openers provided them a good start with 53 runs for opening wicket.
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KL Rahul returns in style
While KL Rahul looked out of form in the first two games, he made a comeback against Mumbai Indians at Mohali. He was playing slowly initially but once Gayle and Mayank Agarwal got out, he took over. Rahul didn’t allow Mumbai bowlers to create too much opportunity after Gayle and Mayank got out and hit timely boundaries. He scored 71 runs not out in 57 balls, including six fours and one six.
