When Punjab Kings, after being put in to bat first, posted 214/3, thanks to Liam Livingstone’s scintillating 82 off 42 balls and Jitesh Sharma continuing his good form to be unbeaten on 49 off 27 balls, while sharing a 119-run stand for the fourth wicket, it seemed Mumbai Indians were on the backfoot.
After conceding 69 runs in the last five overs, Mumbai were even further pushed backwards when Rishi Dhawan dismissed Rohit Sharma for a three-ball duck in the first over and lost Cameron Green in the last over of power-play.
But Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav had other ideas at the IS Bindra PCA Stadium on Wednesday. In front of a vociferous crowd, Kishan slammed a terrific 75 while Suryakumar brought out his innovative array of shots in a whirlwind 66 as the duo shared a match-winning partnership of 116 for the third wicket to help Mumbai Indians chase down 215 and beat Punjab Kings by six wickets.
Though the duo fell in the back-end of the chase, Tilak Varma and Tim David kept the attack going to complete the chase with seven balls to spare. The win also means Mumbai have ten points and have gone past Punjab to be at sixth position in the points table.
Ishan got going by hitting Arshdeep Singh for back-to-back fours through the off-side, before smacking length balls from Rishi over long-on for two sixes. Suryakumar, Mumbai’s impact player, was off the blocks with his pull, cuts and sweep off Rahul Chahar.
From the other end, Kishan danced down the pitch to hammer a four off Harpreet Brar and then sat down to smack high over deep mid-wicket for six. After flat-batting off Chahar for four, Kishan got his fifty in 29 balls.
Suryakumar took on Curran by slicing over deep backward point and lofting a drive over cover for two sixes. He then drove past the bowler and picked off wrists beautifully to hit two fours, the second of which got him his fifty in 23 balls.
His hitting prowess continued by flaying Ellis over point and flicking Arshdeep for a brace of fours. Kishan further teared into Arshdeep by hammering over deep mid-wicket for six and slamming down the ground twice for two fours.
The Mohali crowd found its voice when Suryakumar mistimed a cut to short third man off Ellis and Kishan hooked straight to deep fine leg off Arshdeep. Varma ensured momentum stayed with Mumbai by pulling Arshdeep for six, scooping the next ball for four and launching another six over deep mid-wicket.
David chipped in with a cheeky dab off Curran for four and sliced off Arshdeep for the same result, before Tilak finished off the chase in style with a huge straight six slammed down the ground.
Earlier, at the end of the 12th over, Punjab were 99/3 and a slowdown seemed imminent. But Livingstone and Jitesh joined forces to take them past 200. For Mumbai, barring Piyush Chawla’s 2/29, all bowlers were at the receiving end of carnage from Livingstone and Jitesh.
Punjab suffered an early blow when Prabhsimran Singh slashed away and was caught behind by Ishan Kishan off Arshad in the second over. Shikhar Dhawan and Matthew Short struck some good boundaries on fuller and short lengths, with the former earning a life as short third man shelled a chance in the seventh over.
But Chawla had the last laugh by beating a charging-down-the-ground Dhawan with a googly and getting him easily stumped, followed by bowling his googly slower through the air to rattle Short’s off-stump.
Livingstone was quick off the blocks, guiding Chawla past keeper for four, followed by thumping and swiping debutant pacer Akash Madhwal for four and six respectively. Jitesh had a rollicking start to his knock – smashing Archer over wide long-off, a thick outside edge flying past short third man and pull going past deep mid-wicket to take three fours off a 21-run 13th over.
Livingstone feasted on Arshad’s deliveries, steering and cutting short balls with ease, before slicing a yorker between point and short third man to hit three boundaries in the 15th over. Then came Jitesh’s turn to take runs off Arshad in the 17th over – slamming a length ball down the ground for a huge six, followed by launching a full toss over the bowler’s head for a boundary.
After Livingstone got his fifty in 32 balls with a stunning cover drive off Madhwal, he smacked Archer for a hat-trick of sixes in the 19th over – hammering twice over long-on while smacking one down the ground as Punjab crossed 200-mark, only to end up on the losing side.
Brief Scores: Punjab Kings 214/3 in 20 overs (Liam Livingstone 82 not out, Jitesh Sharma 49 not out; Piyush Chawla 2/29, Arshad Khan 1/48) lost to Mumbai Indians 216/4 in 18.5 overs (Ishan Kishan 75, Suryakumar Yadav 66; Nathan Ellis 2/34, Rishi Dhawan 1/20) by six wickets
