Mumbai Indians were finally back to winning ways after they clinched a 6-wicket victory against Punjab Kings in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday night. Chasing a target of 136 runs in 20 overs, MI went over the line at the end of the 19th over after Hardik Pandya unleashed an assault against the PBKS along with Kieron Pollard on the other end.
The Indian big hitting specialist struck a couple of fours and a maximum to wrap up the game in Mumbai’s favour. They might have won the game with one over to spare but MI didn’t really have a great start to the proceedings as they lost skipper Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav early in the chase.
But Quinton de Kock and Saurabh Tiwary steadied the ship for the side as the two left-handed batters stitched 45 runs for the third wicket before de Kock was cleaned up by Shami for 27.
Tiwary then put up a stand of 31 runs with Hardik Pandya for the fourth wicket before he was undone by Nathan Ellis for 45 off 37, courtesy, a brilliant catch from KL Rahul behind the stumps.
Hardik was then joined by Kieron Pollard in the middle and the West Indies all-rounder showed his true class and calibre. Pollard struck 15* off 7 deliveries that included a maximum and a four while Pandya remained unbeaten at a 30-ball 40.
Ravi Bishnoi and Ellis were the pick of the bowlers for Punjab. While the leggie returned with figures of 2/25 in 4 overs, Ellis scalped one wicket at the cost of 12 runs in 3 overs.
Earlier, despite getting a decent start, the Punjab Kings were restricted to 135/6 in 20 overs. While Punjab kept losing wickets at one end, new recruit Aiden Markram kept scoring runs on the other side but was eventually out for 42 off 29 by Rahul Chahar.
Deepak Hooda and later Harpreet Brar chipped in with some valuable contributions of 28 and 14* respectively.
PBKS skipper KL Rahul agreed that the total that the side had put on the board wasn’t enough on this kind of a track.
“It was a great fight, but 135 was not enough on this pitch. We should have got about 170. The boys showed a lot of fight with the ball, we have done that two games in a row. The next three games will be interesting for us as the table looks interesting,” he said in the post-match presentation.
MI captain Rohit Sharma lauded Hardik Pandya for his knock. “The way he (Hardik) understood the situation was very crucial from a team's perspective, it's important for him to spend the time in the middle as he's coming back from a injury,” he said.
Experts’ Opinion
Commentator Harsha Bhogle lavished praise on Hardik Pandya and Kieron Pollard for their match-winning efforts. “Huge plus for MI. The hitting duo is back. Pandya and Pollard,” Bhogle tweeted.
Journalist Ayaz Memon appreciated the way PBKS tried to defend a small total while pointing out MI’s top-order batting failure as well. “Hardik takes MI home with furious assault on Shami but match closer than scoreboard reflects. Punjab put up stout defence of modest score. Top order failures still Mumbai’s worry,” he wrote on Twitter.
Former India bowler Irfan Pathan hailed Mumbai Indians for the win. “Good win for MI Heat is on points table,” Pathan wrote on Twitter.
Punjab Kings will next play KKR in Dubai on Friday while MI will be up against DC in Sharjah on Saturday.