Dharamsala: Punjab Kings slumped to their fifth straight defeat, seriously damaging their playoff hopes, as Mumbai Indians cruised to a six-wicket victory in a crucial IPL clash on Thursday riding on Shardul Thakur’s four-wicket haul and a clinical batting effort from Tilak Varma, who made 75.
Asked to bat first, Prabhsimran Singh (57) added a 33-ball 50-run opening stand with Priyansh Arya (27) to take PBKS to 55 for 1 in the powerplay and then added 57 runs with Cooper Connolly to cross the 100-run mark in the 12th over.
Shardul (4/39) brought MI back into the game with a four-wicket burst, but PBKS managed to pile on 53 runs in the last three overs to post a competitive 200 for 8.
Chasing the target, Ryan Rickelton came out on fire as he single-handedly pushed Mumbai Indians to 59 for no loss despite Rohit Sharma’s scrappy 25 at the other end.
PBKS hit back with three wickets for 57 runs between the seventh and 13th overs, but Tilak Varma brilliantly anchored the chase with an unbeaten 33-ball 75. He first stitched a 61-run off 42 balls with Sherfane Rutherford (20.) and then combined home with 51. MI.
The loss severely dented Punjab Kings’ playoff hopes as they now need to win both their remaining matches to stay in contention for a top-four finish.
Defending 200, Arshdeep Singh produced two outstanding returns with the new ball, conceding just eight runs, but lacked support from the other end, while Rickelton went on the attack with four boundaries and four sixes during his explosive 48 off 23 balls.
Captain Shreyas Iyer rotated his men in the powerplay but Rickelton started the attack with a six off Azmatullah Omarzai before hitting Marco Jansen and Xavier Bartlett.
Azmatullah eventually secured the breakthrough by dismissing Rickelton, while Jansen removed Naman Dhir (9). Yuzvendra Chahal then pulled things together briefly with a wonderful spell, first smothering Rohit for runs and later dropping him as MI slumped to 89 for 3.
Tilak and Rutherford calmly rebuilt the innings before switching gears, targeting Azmatullah for a 13-run over to ease the pressure. Arshdeep almost secured another breakthrough when Tilak miscued a skier but Jansen failed to hold on to a difficult chance.
With 72 needed in the last five overs, PBKS went back to Chahal, but Tilak and Rutherford countered brilliantly, getting 20 runs from the leg-spinner.
Although Azmatullah dismissed Rutherford in the 17th over, Tilak remained unfazed, smashing Jansen for two sixes and a four in a 22-run 18th over to swing the chase decisively in MI’s favour.
Needing 15 from six balls, Tilak smashed two sixes to knock down the winning runs.
Earlier, Deepak Chahar (2/36) batted first for MI, clearing Arya in the fifth over, but stand-in skipper Jasprit Bumrah was unlucky not to get Prabhsimran earlier after Naman Dhir took a direct hit from a thick edge in the second over.
Prabhsimran made the visitor pay as he swept Raghu for two sixes before launching Corbin Bosch (1/42) for another maximum.
He reached his fifty with a single and followed it up with another six from Shardul over backward square leg.
However, the momentum changed dramatically as Shardul, who had conceded 15 runs in his opener, struck twice in the space of three balls.
The pacer removed the well-placed Prabhsimran and then dismissed skipper Shreyas Iyer (4) as PBKS slipped badly.
Raj Bawa (1/11) then got in on the act, hitting Connolly before taking a sharp catch at short midwicket to dismiss Suryansh Shedge off Shardul. Shashank Singh and Marco Jansen also fell cheaply to leave Punjab in deep trouble.
Azmatullah Omarzai, however, led the charge in the death overs with a 17-ball 38 with two sixes and a four, while Vishnu Vinod and Xavier Bartlett added valuable runs at the end as Punjab crossed the 200-run mark for the eighth time this season.
