MI’s objective possible: Mumbai Indians defeat Punjab Kings by eking out a victory despite Ashutosh’s assault

In order to secure their third victory of the IPL season, the Mumbai Indians overcame the tough Punjab Kings, but the five-time winners will undoubtedly be analysing how they almost let the game get away from them in a commanding position.

MI reduced the host team to 14/4 and then 77/6 after hitting 192/7, with Suryakumar Yadav lighting up the sky with an incredible 78 off 53 balls. However, as has been the case for Punjab, Ashutosh Sharma (61 of 28 balls) unleashed seven sixes to put his side back in the game after Shashank Singh (41 of 25 balls) helped construct their innings.

Mumbai’s key player, pacer Akash Madhwal, let up 24 runs off his 10-ball 15th over. But Jaspirt Bumrah, who took three wickets and was crowned Player of the Match, interrupted the PBKS momentum in the following over, giving up only three runs. As Punjab’s pressure on the scoreboard increased, Gerald Coetzee removed danger man Ashutosh with the first ball of the next over, all but sealing the victory. Punjab was bowled out for 183 in 19.1 overs despite the best efforts of spinner Harpreet Brar (21 off 20 balls) to get the team over the finish line.

Earlier in the season, Suryakumar scored fifty runs, including seven boundaries and three sixes. In his 250th IPL encounter, Tim David (14 off 7 balls) and Tilak Varma (34 off 18 balls) supplied the late push for Rohit, who finished with 36 off 35 balls.

Excellent game. The nerves of everyone were put to the test, MI skipper Hardik Pandya stated. We discussed how this game would put characters to the test. It’s normal to believe you are winning, but as the Indian Premier League often proves, opponents can always rally,” he said.

Quick scores

MI: 192/7 in 20 overs (Harshal 3/31, Curran 2/41) with Suryakumar 78 and Rohit 36. versus PBKS: 183 all out in 19.1 overs (Bumrah 3/21, Coetzee 3/32; Ashutosh 61, Shashank 41)

The outcome on Wednesday

DC: 92/4 in 8.5 overs (Fraser-McGurk 20; Warrier 2/40, Rashid 1/12) against. GT: 89 all out in 17.3 overs (Rashid 31; Mukesh 3/14, Ishant 2/8)