In a desperate need for a victory, Mumbai Indians visited the Holkar Stadium, Indore to take on Kings XI Punjab in the 34 match of IPL 2018. In what turned out to be a see-saw battle, MI overcame KXIP and finally achieved a victory. They need to win all their remaining 5 matches now to stand a chance for qualification to the playoffs and they would hope that this win would kickstart a comeback.
Gaylestorm almost struck
Rohit Sharma called the right side of the coin initially and asked the hosts to bat first. KL Rahul showcased his stylish game once again and smashed a couple of sixes in the first 2 overs. Chris Gayle too joined the party and struck 3 fours in a row to Hardik Pandya. The assault from Gayle just got bigger when he went after Mitchell McClenaghan in the final over of the powerplay to take the score to 49/0.
Rahul, who was kept down courtesy some tight bowling, was dismissed by Mayank Markande for 24 in the 7th over. Yuvraj Singh was promoted to No.3 and he took his own sweet time to settle in. Gayle, on the other hand, kept the scoring going and brought up his 3rd fifty this season.
But just when he threatened to score big once again, his stay in the middle was cut short by Ben Cutting. Yuvraj became a victim of a confusion in running between the wickets with Karun Nair and got run out for 14. MI bowlers did well to pull things back and halted the score to 99/3 after 13 overs.
Karun and Axar Patel came into the act and collected 24 runs from the next 2 overs. But both of them departed in consecutive overs and KXIP were struggling at 135/5 with just 3 overs remaining. But Marcus Stoinis’s late cameo of 29 from 15 balls propelled the hosts to 174/6 at the end of 20 overs.
Suryakumar Yadav set the plot
MI made a subdued start and mustered just 20 runs from the first 3 overs. Suryakumar Yadav, who has been in a tremendous form this season, broke the shackles and hit Ankit Rajpoot for a six and a four. Evin Lewis was struggling big time and his misery at the crease was ended at 10 off 13 by Mujeeb Ur Rahman in the 6th over as the score read 39/1.
Ishan Kishan was the new man to join Suryakumar but the wicketkeeper found it hard to get going. From the other end, Suryakumar kept the visitors in the hunt. At the halfway stage, MI reached 67/1 and the required run rate was climbing.
They had got themselves into trouble this season while chasing mediocre targets and it seemed like another one in the making. Suryakumar got out after scoring 57 off 42 balls and Ishan, after striking a few blows, got out for 25 in the 13th over. With 75 runs required from the last 7 overs, Rohit held himself back and promoted Hardik Pandya.
But the skipper had to walk in soon with 2 wickets falling in quick succession. Hardik targetted the spinners and played a short cameo of 23 off 13 until Andrew Tye castled him in the 16th over. From then on, Rohit and Krunal Pandya took the matters into their own hands and hammered 14, 20 and 17 from the next 3 overs respectively. The duo sealed the game for MI with an over to go and broke the losing tun to keep their hopes alive for qualification.
Match Summary
Mumbai Indians won the toss and opted to bowl first
Kings XI Punjab: 174/6 in 20 overs
Chris Gayle 50 (40), Marcus Stoinis 29* (15)
Jasprit Bumrah 19/1 (4), Ben Cutting 28/1 (3)
Mumbai Indians: 176/4 in 19 overs
Suryakumar Yadav 57 (42), Krunal Pandya 31* (12)
Mujeeb Ur Rahman 37/2 (4), Andrew Tye 35/1 (4)
Mumbai Indians won by 6 wickets
Player of the Match: Suryakumar Yadav
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