IPL24: MI scrape through after Ashutosh heroics nearly snatched a win against all odds for Punjab

 

Mumbai Indians vs Punjab Kings matches in IPL never dissappoints . The teams have a history of playing thrillers and their head to head contests was as close as  16 -15 in Mumbai's favour before this game . 

Punjab Kings were set a target of 193 runs to win.  The way runs are scored in the IPL, anythimg is possible , unless the opposing bowler's name is Jaspreet Bumrah.  Suryakumar Yadav was dominant with the bat for Mumbai Indians.  Bumrah did that with the ball.  And five times IPL winner Mumbai won by 9 runs.  Ashutosh Sharma's sensational fight nearly did the impossible but he could not win Punjab the game which at one stage looked dead and buried for the hosts . 

 Sam Curran won the toss and sent Mumbai into bat at Mullanpur .  Punjab captain Shikhar Dhawan is still not fully fit.  Curran is leading the team in his place.  Mumbai captain Hardik Pandya however said that he would have batted first if he had won the toss.

 Mumbai opener Ishan Kishan did not get going.  Kagiso Rabada  dismissed him caught at third man for 8 runs off 8 balls.  Rabada also did not think that he would get a wicket with that ball.  But Suryakumar came out as soon as Ishan got out.  He was trying to play big shots from the beginning.  Rohit Sharma was with him who played 250th match in IPL on Thursday.  He also set a precedent in that match.  Rohit crossed the barrier of 6500 runs in IPL.  He made 36 runs off 25 balls against Punjab on Thursday that included a great pulled shot and he looked in good nick

 Surya got runs with his typically cricketing shots with some mix of innovative ones that entralled the crowd but Hardik failed again.  He got out after scoring only 10 runs and also can't make much of an impact with the ball.  Instead, Tilak Verma scored 34 runs off 18 balls with some blistering shots to give the team confidence.  

 Going into bat with a target of 193 runs, Punjab lost 4 wickets in 2.1 overs.  Pravsimran Singh (0), Riley Russouw (1), Sam Curran (6) and Liam Livingstone (1) were knocked over in no time .  Bumrah and Gerald Coetzee were in the limelight .  Coetzee took the first wicket.  Bumrah came in the next over and took two wickets.  Coming to bowl in the third over, Coetzee took another wicket of Livingstone. Coetzee during the powerplay bowled extremely  quick. The fate of the match was almost decided immediately.

Having lost 4 wickets for 14 runs, Punjab turned around holding the hands of Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma.  Shashank again looked in great nick was dismissed for 41 off 25 balls but Ashutosh continued to fight.  He was fighting with Harpreet Brar.  Ashutosh scored a blistering  61 runs off 28 balls with some screaming shots on the leg side using his supple wrists and timing that reminds of Surya Kumar Yadav.  As long as he was at the crease, there was hope for Punjab as they were rapidly taking giant steps towards the target which at one time looked impossible when Punjab was reeling at 14/4 or 76/6 

 Only 28 runs were required in the last four overs.  It seemed that Ashutosh would win the game singlehandedly .  Bumrah came to bowl at such a time.  He gave only 3 runs.  That's where the match turned.  Pressure mounted on Ashutosh.  Coetzee took the wicket of Ashutosh on the first ball of the next over.  Coetzee bounced and kept the fielder more on the leg side.  That worked.  Ashutosh who was smashing sixes for fun ,  gave away while playing the pull.  The pressure of getting only 3 runs in the previous over was on his mind.  And as soon as Ashutosh got out caught in the deep, the hope of winning almost ended for Punjab.

 However, coming to bowl in the 19th over, Hardik started to make Punjab dream of winning again by leaking 11 runs. Brar (21) however got out but Rabada hit a blistering 6 .  As a captain, Hardik's mistakes were seen again and again.  He could not sustain the pressure that Bumrah and Coetzee created in the first four overs.  Hardik did not have the guts to bowl Bumrah and Coetzee one more over at that time.  Mohammad Nabi was included in the team but he did not bowl a single over.  Navi might have been more effective with experience than Shreyas Gopal.  Finally Rohit was forced to talk to Bumrah.  Bumrah took 3 wickets with 21 runs in 4 overs. His yorker to Russouw was brilliant and he looked unplayable at tines . Coetzee also took 3 wickets and bowled very fast during the powerplay.  Akash Madhwal, Hardik and Shreyas took one wicket each. Bumrah was the player of the match . 

 Mumbai came back to win after losing against Chennai Super Kings.  This win will boost Hardik's confidence.  But Punjab will have to wonder if Ashutosh and Shashank can be brought  up earlier in the batting order.   It will probably benefit Punjab.