Mumbai Indians, no longer in the playoffs race, only had pride to play for in Dharamsala.
Led by Jasprit Bumrah in the absence of Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav, Mumbai however continued to make mistakes. But, first Shardul Thakur (4/39) and then Tilak Varma (75 not out off 33 balls) stood up to guide the five-time champions to a six-wicket victory over Punjab Kings on Thursday.
The once-invincible Kings crashed to their fifth straight defeat this season.
A win for Shreyas Iyer’s Kings would have taken them to 15 points. This defeat meant they are rooted on 13, which should help Chennai Super Kings (12 points), Rajasthan Royals (12 points), Delhi Capitals (10 points) and Kolkata Knight Riders (9 points) feel a tad better going into their upcoming clashes.
Earlier, Mumbai dropped as many as four catches after putting the Kings into bat in bowler-friendly conditions. Those dropped chances helped the Kings post 200/8 after they were wobbling at 140/7 in the 17th over.
Ryan Rickelton and Impact Player Rohit Sharma took Mumbai off to a solid start, forging 61 inside seven overs in their opening stand. But Afghanistan all-rounder Azmatullah Omarzai, who had scored a vital 38 off 17 balls going in at No.8 in his first appearance of this IPL, got rid of Rickelton, before Marco Jansen dismissed Naman Dhir and leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal cleaned Rohit up with a beauty.
Composed in chase
The momentum shifted to the Kings as Mumbai slipped to 88/3 in the third over. That’s when Tilak stood up.
The left-hander’s solidity helped ease matters for Sherfane Rutherford. The strokes returned and the duo hammered Chahal for 20 in the 16th over that regained Mumbai Indians a bit of their momentum.
Following Rutherford’s dismissal off Omarzai, Will Jacks (25 not out off 10 balls) ensured to complement the composed Tilak, who didn’t spare an inch to Jansen and Xavier Bartlett, who fed him with room and width.
Credit had to be given to Tilak, whose excellent temperament not just helped him register a back-to-back fifty, but also earned his team two points.
Subtle movement
The Kings’ top scorer, Prabhsimran Singh (57 off 32 balls), was dropped on 5 and 28. However, Shardul triggered their collapse dismissing Prabhsimran, Shreyas Iyer and Suryansh Shedge. He extracted a bit of away movement to knock over the Kings captain.