Mumbai Indians beat Kings XI Punjab by 3 runs in a thriller of the 50th match of VIVO IPL 2018 played at Wankedhe Stadium, Mumbai just finished a few moments ago. Kings XI Punjab captain R Ashwin elected to field. Contributions from Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Surya Kumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan helped Mumbai Indians to post 186 for 8. Chasing 187 runs, KL Rahul played a blinder of an innings but few batting order changes cost Kings XI Punjab during the match.
Kings XI Punjab captain Ravichandran Ashwin won the toss and elected to field first. Mumbai Indian openers Surya Kumar Yadav and Evin Lewis got off to flying start adding 37 runs in 3.1 overs. Ishan Kishan and Surya Kumar Yadav then attacked the Kings XI Punjab bowlers. Andrew Tye dismissed Ishan Kishan, Surya Kumar Yadav in two successive deliveries.
At the end of 6 overs, Mumbai Indians scored 60 for 3. After the power play overs, Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma was dismissed cheaply just scoring 6 runs. Kieron Pollard who came in place of JP Duminy and Krunal Pandya played with positive intent putting pressure on Kings XI Punjab bowlers. Both Pollard and Krunal Pandya added 65 runs for the 5th wicket.
Krunal Pandya was dismissed for 32. Pollard smashed half-century off 22 balls and also was out for 50. Kings XI Punjab captain R Ashwin dismissed Ben Cutting and then Andrew Tye again bowled brilliantly dismissing Hardik Pandya. Mitchell McClenaghan and Mayank Markande added 16 runs for the 9th wicket.
Mumbai Indians posted a competitive total of 186 for 6 in 20 overs. For Kings XI Punjab, Andrew Tye was the pick of a bowler taking 4 for 16 in 4 overs.
Chasing 187, Chris Gayle and KL Rahul started the innings off to a good start adding 34 for the first wicket. Chris Gayle was dismissed by McClenaghan for 18 runs. KL Rahul and Aaron Finch played with positive intent putting pressure on Mumbai Indians bowling line up. At the end of 6 overs, Kings XI Punjab were 57 for 1.
After the power play overs, KL Rahul continued his brilliant form in this season and along with Finch put Punjab on course for a big victory. Rahul reached his 6th half-century off 36 balls, continued to hit boundaries at will. Jasprit Bumrah took the big wicket of Aaron Finch for 46 runs. KL Rahul and Aaron Finch added 111 runs for the 2nd wicket. Kings XI Punjab sent Marcus Stoinis and Axar Patel in place of Yuvraj Singh.
Jasprit Bumrah dismissed Marcus Stoinis for 1 run. Axar Patel came in and struggled to time the ball. KL Rahul played one of the best innings scoring 94 runs off 60 balls, dismissed in the 19th over. Jasprit Bumrah bowled a brilliant 19th over giving away just 6 runs. With 17 runs off 6 balls, Kings XI Punjab could only score 14 runs.
Mumbai Indians won the match by 3 runs and kept their hopes alive of reaching the playoff stages. For MI, Jasprit Bumrah bowled a brilliant spell taking 3 wickets for 15 runs.
MI 186 for 8 in 20 overs ( Pollard 50, Krunal 32, Surya Kumar Yadav 27, Andrew Tye 4/16) beat
KXIP 183 for 5 in 20 overs ( KL Rahul 94, Aaron Finch 46, Jasprit Bumrah 3/15) by 3 runs.
KXIP captain R Ashwin said: I am pretty blank at the moment. We were along in the chase. It was a great batting performance by our team. KL Rahul batted brilliantly. Bumrah bowled a brilliant over and made the life tough for us. Rahul has been in superb touch this season but this is a tough loss to swallow.
MI captain Rohit Sharma said: It was an important game for us to win. We lost the plot in the middle overs and could have scored 15-20 runs more. Pollard played a brilliant inning and helped us to post a competitive total. Bumrah has been outstanding and has come a long way in the last two years.
Man of the match Jasprit Bumrah: I was clear how to execute the plan. Clarity was needed and performed brilliantly. On this wicket, the slower balls worked as it was gripping. Hope to perform well in the next match against Delhi Daredevils.
When these two teams met in this time, Mumbai Indians defeated Kings XI Punjab. This win has kept their hopes of playoffs alive.
Royal Challengers Bangalore will take on Sunrisers Hyderabad in tomorrow’s match at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore.
