During the 34th match of the 11th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) between Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) and Mumbai Indians (MI) at Indore, Mumbai Indians beat Kings XI Punjab by six wickets to prevent themselves from being all but out in the tournament.
After Rohit Sharma won the toss and put Kings XI Punjab in to bat, the home team started in the affirmative as Lokesh Rahul and Chris Gayle stitched a 54-run stand for the first wicket. Gayle per se was looking set to play a notable knock. In the middle overs, wickets fell and so did the run rate to the extent that Punjab’s innings looked in shambles at one point in time. They eventually scored 174-6 in their allotted quota of 20 overs.
In reply, Mumbai Indians got off to a slow start. Opener Evin Lewis (10) getting out in the last over of the powerplay didn’t help their case either. However, it was a 21-ball 56-run partnership which saw the fortune of the match being changed. They ended up scoring 176-4 in 19 overs.
Now, we will look at the hits and flops players in this match.
Hits
Jasprit Bumrah (MI) – Sharing the new ball for Mumbai Indians alongside Mitchell McClenaghan, Jasprit Bumrah did not let any opposition batsman to open his arms against him. The pick of the Indians’ bowlers, Bumrah returned with economical bowling figures of 4-0-19-1.
Suryakumar Yadav (MI) – Reaping the fruits of his sublime form, ‘Man of the Match’ Suryakumar Yadav played another stellar knock in this season of the IPL. Opening the batting alongside Evin Lewis, he scored his fourth IPL half-century, 57 (42), with the help of six fours and three sixes.
Krunal Pandya (MI) – With bowling figures of 1-0-10-0, Krunal Pandya might have been under-utilised with the ball in hand. However, he stood tall wit the bat in the hand, scoring 31* (12) with the help of four fours and two sixes. He came in to bat at No. 6 in the 16th over when the required rate was above 12 RPO. The fact that Mumbai Indians sealed the chase with an over to go depicts how Krunal Pandya dominated during the fag end of the match.
Flops
Yuvraj Singh (KXIP) – Firstly, the decision of playing Yuvraj Singh in this match was beyond explanation. To add to it was the fact that he was sent in to bat at No. 3 and played miserably, leaving aside one shot which went for six off Krunal Pandya. He ended up running himself out in which a needless run, scoring 14 (14) with the help of one six.
Evin Lewis (MI) – Included into the playing eleven in this match in place of Kieron Pollard and opening the batting for Mumbai Indians alongside Suryakumar Yadav, Evin Lewis failed to make any sort of impact in the powerplay overs. He ended up scoring 10 (13).
Ankit Rajpoot (KXIP) – Sharing the new ball for Kings XI Punjab alongside captain Ravichandran Ashwin, Ankit Rajpoot registered bowling figures of 3-0-31-0.
