Yesterday’s match was a low-scoring match. The match was played at Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam.
Mumbai Indians won the toss and chose to bat first. Mumbai start was not good. They lost 2 wickets for 8 runs in the span of 2.5 overs. Mumbai score 21 for 2 in powerplay. This was the lowest powerplay score by team in this season. Nitish Rana hit 3 sixes off Mohit Sharma’s 3rd over. Mumbai was weakly placed at 36 for 2 in 8.4 overs. The 28-run stand between Rohit Sharma and Nitish Rana in 36 balls paced the Mumbai innings. They lost Rohit Sharma in penultimate ball of 9th over of the innings. Rohit Sharma was bowled by Axar Patel in his 2nd over. Nitish Rana scored a classy 25 off 28 balls and also placed the Mumbai innings. Nitish Rana was caught by Wriddhiman Saha off Stoinis 2nd over. They lost 2 more wickets for 14 runs in the span of 3 overs and Punjab made a comeback. Mumbai was reduced to 61 for 5 in 13.3 overs. Pollard was caught by Stoinis off Cariappa’s 2nd over but umpire signaled as not out. They hit 4 sixes in 2 overs by both bowlers in this innings to hint a revival. Mumbai was also weakly placed at 103 for 5 in 16.3 overs. Pollard scored a quickfire 27 off 20 balls and smashed the Punjab bowling. This was the highest score by batsman in this innings. The 42-run stand between Pollard and Krunal Pandya in 19 balls was the highest and fought back. Pollard was bowled by Stoinis in his last over. They lost last 4 wickets for 11 runs in the span of 2 overs and Punjab also made a comeback. Mumbai was also reduced to 114 for 9 in 18.3 overs. Mumbai posted not a competitive total of 124 runs for the loss of 9 wickets. This was the second lowest total for Mumbai in this season behind 92 runs against Sunrisers Hyderabad also at Visakhapatnam last week. Stoinis was the most successful bowler for Punjab when he took 4 wickets including 2 wickets in 17th over of the innings. This was his best bowling performance in IPL against his previous best off 3 for 20 vs Delhi Daredevils at Mohali last week.
Punjab start was also not good. They lost Hashim Amla early in last ball of 1st over of the innings. Hashim Amla was out LBW by Southee in his first over. This was his first duck in his IPL career. Punjab hit 5 fours in the end of 6th over of the innings. Vijay hit an ample shot off McClenaghan’s 2nd over. Wriddhiman Saha hit a four in extra cover drive off Southee’s 3rd over. Vijay tried to leave the bounce off Harbhajan Singh’s 1st over. Jos Buttler beats a run off Harbhajan Singh’s same over but umpire signaled as 4 byes. They working them around and loose the ball of Krunal Pandya’s 2nd over. Punjab was comfortably placed at 117 for 1 in 15.3 overs and it looked Punjab will win the match. Wriddhiman Saha scored a brilliant 56 off 40 balls and destroyed the Mumbai bowlers. This was his 2nd fifty of the season and overall 5th fifty in his IPL career. This was his highest score of the season against his previous highest of 52 runs vs Delhi Daredevils at Mohali last week. This was the highest score by batsman in this match. The 116-run stand between Vijay and Wriddhiman Saha in 88 balls was the highest. This was the highest second-wicket partnership for Punjab in this season against their previous highest of 72 runs by same pair vs Gujarat Lions at Rajkot fortnight ago. Wriddhiman Saha was bowled by McClenaghan in his last over. They lost 2 more wickets for 1 run in the span of 2 balls and it look Mumbai will make a comeback. Vijay scored a fine 54 off 52 balls and hammered the Mumbai bowlers. This was his 4th fifty of the season and overall 10th fifty in his IPL career. Vijay hit the winning four and Punjab won comfortably. McClenaghan was the most successful bowler for Mumbai when he took 2 wickets including consecutive wickets in 16th over of the innings. Punjab won the match by 7 wickets. This was Punjab’s 4th win in IPL 2016. Both teams are chance to make playoff spot if they win remaining matches.
Now, Kings XI Punjab will take on Sunrisers Hyderabad on May 15. Mumbai Indians will face Delhi Daredevils also on May 15.
We will back with 2 match updates tomorrow. Bye for now.
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