‘M’ission Never ‘I’mpossible For Mumbai Indians : Back in 2014, which was Indian Premier League Season Number 7; Mumbai Indians stood in a do-or-die situation where on one side were the Playoffs and on the other, well being a member of the Knocked out teams club.
Aditya Tare was the man on strike and the situation demanded him to smash a Six off that delivery. This would result in MI chasing down 195 in 14.4 overs, raising their Net Run Rate and thrm becoming a part of the Final Four. As one wouldn’t believe on his/her eyes, the young man launched it over the square leg off Faulkner’s delivery.
Mumbai exploded all over Wankhede and that day the fact that – Nothing, I repeat “Nothing” is impossible for this team was reconfirmed.
For the fans of these Men in Blue every season is full of surprises and entertainment. So is the ongoing IPL – 10. Post losing the first game to Pune, there has been no looking back for MI. They pulled off 4 wins in a row and on 20th April, converted that into 5 pulling off yet another miracle.
The Kings who lost the toss and were made to bat first made quite a few changes in their Playing XI. With the kind of wicket and conditions at Holkar Stadium, Indore; any side would be desperate to chase. But Punjab showed no resistance and with the help of the mighty Hashim Amla & Glenn-Deep-Singh Maxwell managed to give the opposition a target as high as 199 with the former scoring a Century playing some of the most elegant shots and the latter attacking from the time he stepped in.
At the end of the first innings, majority including the experts of the gamw had declared Punjab as the winner of the match. Never would have they imagined what came next. The opening duo of Jos Buttler and Parthiv Patel came in the middle and began only on a brutal note. The pressure of the huge total seemed to inspire them instead. In 5 overs, MI were on 68/0; a score which teams achieve overs after the Powerplay. Though the team lost the little man – Patel on 37 but he had done his job.
Next came in the highest scorer for Mumbai till now this season – Nitish Rana. Considering his form and the fact that Buttler had already been set, Mumbai Indians were off to an incredible journey – on a chase that will remain as one of the most memorable run chases of all times.
While the English batsman smacked the Sharmas and the Singhs ending his knock at a stupendous 37 ball 77, Nitish Rana went on to regain the Orange Cap hitting 62 runs from 34 balls. Rana smashed a Maximum to guide his team to a magnificent 8 wicket victory and guess what!? They had 27 balls to spare!
Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Gujarat and now Punjab; East – West – North – South, Mumbai Indians have covered every corner and have jumped to the Number 1 Position (10 points) with a +0.62 Net Run Rate. Kings XI Punjab are on the 5th spot with 4 points.
Man of the Match award was bagged by Jos Buttler.
Cheers to the team that never fails to entertain and Punjabis – hard luck!
– by Akshata Tilwankar
