Mumbai defeat Punjab by 9 runs. (PTI)
Faith works a miracle… almost
It takes only one person with belief to turn the tide. Punjab Kings had two in Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma. That they didn’t get over the line would rankle, but to recover from 14/4 and then 77/6 in pursuit of 193 to an extent that they had the game in their grasp at one stage is an achievement in itself. The two have been the standout performers for the franchise this season, and as long as one of them was at the crease, it was Punjab Kings’ game to lose. It begs the question why they were sent as low as No. 6 and 8 respectively when the top order seemed incapable of dealing with the pace and fire of Jasprit Bumrah and Gerald Coetzee. Ashutosh would wonder what could have been as he holed out in the deep off a hittable delivery from the South African when 25 were needed off three overs with Bumrah done with his spell. Even after that, Kings kept fighting and with 12 needed in the last over with a wicket in hand, Kagiso Rabada was well capable of a couple of big hits. But the Protea pacer would ask himself whether he needed to go for that risky second run.
Talk about a valiant knock 👏👏
That was SOME batting display from Ashutosh Sharma who nearly who pulled a famous win 👌
Recap his innings here 🎥🔽 #TATAIPL | #PBKSvMIhttps://t.co/XvDox08Bz3
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 18, 2024
Rabada lucks out against Ishan
There were wry smiles all around. Kagiso Rabada knew he has bowled much better deliveries over his career that haven’t gotten him wickets. Ishan Kishan had only earlier in the tournament played a stunning cut for six to a short and wide ball, a shot that will be replayed many times for the sheer audacity. So a short and wide ball from Rabada early in the piece in Mullanpur should have really had only one outcome. But Ishan went for the cut again and managed to find the fielder at deep third with unerring precision. Sure, Rabada and Punjab had the right field but that wasn’t what Rabada would have expected when the ball left his hand. He has been the main strike weapon for Punjab and has been used at varied stages based on when the opponent’s main batters are in the middle. But bowling two in the powerplay has been constant, and against MI he struck with his first ball, albeit with a slice of good fortune.
Tim David onslaught 🔥🔥
Harshal Patel gets the dangerous batter but #MI are inching closer to 200 with 3 balls to go!
Watch the match LIVE on @JioCinema and @StarSportsIndia 💻📱#TATAIPL | #PBKSvMI pic.twitter.com/Kqv6trGprN
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 18, 2024
Harshal Patel’s Bravo moment foiled
It’s Harshal Patel’s best delivery in his arsenal: The dipping yorker. On his best days, it can almost come close to Dwayne Bravo’s classic. Like it did on Thursday evening against Rohit Sharma, who swiped his bat for a big hit but was beautifully undone by the lack of pace first and then by the dip in the fifth over. The ball went under the toe-end of the bat and hit him on the left shoe. The umpire withheld the bowler’s appeal for lbw, but once Rohit consulted Suryakumar Yadav and took the DRS, he grew increasingly confident about the verdict. At one point, he even told someone in the Punjab team, who had huddled next to the pitch, that the ball was missing leg stump. And when the replays confirmed it, he punched the gloves of Surya and would soon celebrate it with a smashing six down the ground off Sam Curran of the final ball of the Powerplay.
What happens when Rohit tries to do a Surya?
Despite couple of sixes, Rohit’s knock hasn’t exactly been fluent, and he had been watching Suryakumar Yadav do his thing: flicking, whipping, cutting, lapping. And so in the 12th over, with 36 from 23 balls, Rohit decided to do a Surya: try sweeping the seamer Sam Curran. But it was a slower one and Rohit was a touch early with his shot, and the ball ricocheted off the blade on to his helmet-grill. Curran walked across to check his wellbeing, and the physio too came for the obligatory concussion check. Next ball, Curran slipped in another slower one as Rohit charged down the track, and the top-hand came off the handle as he tried to adjust. But the slice carried to the covers fielder and Rohit had to walk back with a wince. Neither Surya’s shot nor Rishabh Pant’s (one-handed sixes) did the trick for him.
Happy birthday, IPL, as Ashutosh blasts Bumrah
A few overs earlier, Jasprit Bumrah had bowled a stunning delivery to dismiss Rilee Rossouw. A proper heat-seeking missile. Signature stuff. Just a few deliveries earlier, Jasprit Bumrah had bowled a superb slower one that deceived an in-form Shashank Singh hook, line and sinker. Signature stuff, once again. His bowling figures were 3/11 at that moment, but Bumrah had done a minor error by overstepping.
ICYMI!
The over that brought @PunjabKingsIPL closer to a dramatic win👌👌
WATCH 🎥🔽 #TATAIPL | #PBKSvMI https://t.co/hR1ZdmrGf7
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 18, 2024
Ashutosh Sharma, off the free hit, decided to produce one of the shots of the tournament. Sure there was no danger of getting out but he went down on his knees in anticipation off a pacy full ball and swept it over long leg for six. Ashutosh had a big smile! Why wouldn’t he, he just smashed the best bowler in the world in red-hot form for a memorable six. On the birth anniversary of IPL, a reminder of why this league is special.
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