Mumbai Indians 216 for 4 (Kishan 75, Suryakumar 66, Ellis 2-34) beat Punjab Kings 214 for 3 (Livingstone 82*, Jitesh 49*, Chawla 2-29) by six wickets
Punjab Kings have a deep batting line-up, which allows them to approach innings in a fearless manner. They duly posted 200-plus for the fourth time in a row - an IPL record - courtesy an unbroken stand of 119 from 52 balls from Liam Livingstone and Jitesh Sharma. Yet, they ended up on the losing side. And that was down to a masterclass in T20 batting from Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan, who helped Mumbai Indians hunt down 215 with plenty to spare just three days after they had also successfully chased 213.
Livingstone and Jitesh had swung, slapped and sliced Mumbai's bowlers all around during their century stand, to lift Kings from 95 for 3 in the 12th to 214. Livingstone cracked 82 off 42, while Jitesh missed his half-century by one run, getting to 49 from 27. But then Suryakumar hammered 66 at a rate of more than two runs per ball and Kishan slammed 75 to further clog the points table, where four sides - including both these teams - sit on ten points each.
The race to playoffs has indeed heated up.
Suryakumar, Kishan bat fearlessly
Mumbai were 54 for 2 after the powerplay, as Rohit Sharma's inconsistent run continued - out for a three-ball duck today - and Cameron Green fell after a cameo. Another 161 were required at 11.50 an over when Impact Player Suryakumar joined Kishan. By then, Kishan had settled in, having raced to 26 with two fours and two sixes. Three overs later, the required rate had risen further to 12.54. And that is when the carnage began.
Ishan went after Harpreet Brar to pick up 14 from the tenth over, and then combined with Suryakumar to slam 14 more off Rahul Chahar the next over. PBKS were still very much in it, though, when MI were still 100 away with only eight overs remaining, but then the turning point of the chase truly arrived.
Suryakumar helped thrash 23 off a Sam Curran over - 6, 6, 4, 4 came off consecutive legal deliveries and this final hit got him to his fifty from 23 deliveries. Soon after, Kishan targeted Arshdeep Singh: 6, 4, 4, and the game was almost done. Mumbai needed just 45 from 30 from that point on.
Livingstone and Jitesh merciless on Mumbai
The match had seemed in the balance earlier in the day, when Matthew Short's struggle ended. Jitesh came in at No. 5, with Livingstone already set at the other end. By the time the pair was done, they had slammed the last eight overs of Kings' innings for 115. Jofra Archer had given away only five runs in his first over on return from injury, but in the 13th, the two Kings batters belted 21 off him.
Some luck went Jitesh's way when a top edge flew over the short-third fielder and a heave fell short of deep midwicket, but no such close calls could stop him from going hard at the bowlers.
At the other end, Livingstone's knock included deft touches between point and short third, as well as forceful swat-pulls. And when Rohit brought Archer back for the 19th over, Livingstone smacked three sixes in a row before five wides meant the over cost 27. Archer leaked 56 in four overs overall. Who knew then that Livingstone and Jitesh would eventually finish on the losing side. Some of the credit for that should also go to Piyush Chawla.
Piyush Chawla spins a web
Having gone for 14 off his first seven balls - including three fours by Shikhar Dhawan - the experienced Chawla hit back in the eighth over. He tossed the ball up again to invite Dhawan down the track, but this was a wrong 'un. Dhawan was beaten and stumped for an attacking 30. Chawla went on to put the lid on Kings' scoring over the next few overs, finishing with 2 for 29. That spell included subtle changes of pace and a constant usage of variations; Short was his second victim, misreading a googly to be cleaned up for 27.
Livingstone and Jitesh got together thereafter, but Chawla would still be one up on them come the end of the game.
