KL Rahul (60 off 52) and Chris Gayle (43 off 35) helped Punjab Kings (PBKS) humiliate Mumbai Indians (MI) by 9 wickets with 14 balls to spare in Match 17 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021, at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. The win took Punjab to fifth place in the points table. Mumbai, on the other hand, remained at fourth.
Earlier, Mumbai posted 131/6 after Rahul won the toss and asked them to bat first. Mumbai skipper Rohit Sharma (63 off 52) played his part but did not get much support from the other end. Mohammed Shami (2-21) and Ravi Bishnoi (2-21) were the pick of the Punjab bowlers.
Deepak Hooda struck the first blow for Punjab in the second over. Quinton de Kock (3), has had a miserable season so far with the bat, charged down and hit straight to Moises Henriques at mid-on. The Punjab bowlers did not provide any room to the Mumbai batsmen to swing their bats in the first six overs. They were 21/1 after Powerplay, the lowest of the season.
Ishan Kishan (6 off 17) struggled throughout his short stay in the crease before Bishnoi trapped him with a googly. But Rohit, along with Suryakumar Yadav, took responsibility to rebuild the Mumbai innings. The pair added 79 runs in 55 balls in the third wicket.
Bishnoi returned to remove Suryakumar (33) in the 17th over. Rohit himself, too, fell in the next over after he went to sweep a low full-toss. Despite the timing, it went straight to Fabian Allen at the backward square leg.
Hardik Pandya failed to get going for the fifth time this season. In the 19th over, he tried to launch a slower delivery over long-on. It hit the toe end of his bat and went straight to Hooda. Mumbai, once again, stumbled to post a below-par total after 20 overs.
Coming at the chase, both Rahul and Mayank Agarwal showed urgency after playing tentatively in the first over. They took 15 runs in the second over, bowled by Krunal Pandya, and added another 12 in the fourth.
Rohit was forced to bring on Rahul Chahar, their highest wicket-taker so far in IPL 2021, inside the Powerplay. The Punjab batsmen decided to play out the over, taking just three runs. They brought up 50 runs in 38 balls, without losing a wicket.
Finally, in the eighth over, Chahar got the much-needed breakthrough for Mumbai when Mayank’s (25) lofted drive went to Suryakumar at mid-on.
Gayle took his time to settle himself in, scoring only three runs off the first 10 balls he faced. Punjab somehow lost the momentum after the Powerplay and scored just 18 runs from the next five overs.
The ‘Gayle Storm’ finally arrived in the 13th over, when the Universe Boss smacked back-to-back boundaries off Jayant Yadav, towards fine leg and to mid-wicket. Rahul, too, then shifted gears in the next over, off Kieron Pollard. He took 11 runs from it. Punjab needed 24 runs in 24 balls at one stage with nine wickets in hand.
In the end, the pair smashed a four and two sixes off Boult’s 18th to successfully chase down the total with ease.
Brief scores:
Mumbai Indians 131/6 in 20 overs (Rohit 63, Suryakumar 33; Mohammed Shami 2-21, Ravi Bishnoi 2-21) lost to Punjab Kings 132/1 in 17.4 overs (KL Rahul 60, Chris Gayle 40; Rahul Chahar 1-19) by 9 wickets with 14 balls to spare. Player of the match: KL Rahul.