[CRK]
Arshdeep and Prabhsimran Star as PBKS Hammer MI
Punjab Kings’ Prabhsimran Singh and Shreyas Iyer led the team to a seven-wicket victory over Mumbai Indians, with Arshdeep Singh’s impressive bowling setting the tone for the match.
Arshdeep Sets the Tone
Arshdeep came into the match with two wickets and an economy rate of 10.6 in four games this season. Two left-hand openers were the ideal setting for him to improve his performance. The new ball swung in the air and moved off the surface, and Arshdeep kept taking it away from Ryan Rickelton.
De Kock, Dhir Rescue MI
Even before those two wickets, de Kock signalled dangerous intent with a silken, aerial extra-cover drive first ball off fellow South African Marco Jansen. In Jansen’s next over, Yuzvendra Chahal lost the ball in the lights and missed a sitter from Naman Dhir.
PBKS Bowlers Fight Back
The comeback for PBKS began with Jansen conceding just seven in the 13th over, but like in the game against Sunrisers Hyderabad, the lack of pace from Shashank Singh once again produced a game-changing wicket. In his 31-ball 50, Dhir evoked a lot of Hardik Pandya with a compact bat swing and shots that looked quite like the MI captain’s.
Ghazanfar Gives MI Hope
The way Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran tucked into some buffet bowling from Deepak Chahar, it looked like 195 was not 20 short but 40. However, led by Jasprit Bumrah who bowled four straight dots to Arya, Ghazanfar ended up with two wickets in the powerplay: Arya caught at midwicket and Cooper Connolly caught behind.
Prabhsimran, Iyer Kill the Chase
There was a time when MI had strung together 10 balls for one run and a wicket across the second and third overs of the chase. Prabhsimran cut the 11th for a regulation catch to backward point but Bumrah, wicketless in six straight IPL matches now, dropped it. When Connolly fell, MI were still hopeful of a comeback. Iyer, though, brought a sense of calm, playing Ghazanfar’s mystery spin like you would offspin.
