IPL 2021, MI vs PBKS: Tiwary-Pandya show helps Mumbai pull off a hard-fought 6-wicket win

Mumbai Indians finally managed to secure a win in the UAE leg of IPL 2021 as it beat Punjab Kings by six wickets in Abu Dhabi. The success has taken MI to the fifth spot, staying in the playoffs contention.

Finally, it was a relief for defending champion Mumbai Indians (MI) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021. It managed to win against Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Match 42 at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi by six wickets in a hard-fought fashion.

Winning the toss, MI skipper Rohit Sharma opted to bowl as he made a couple of changes. As for PBKS, skipper KL Rahul brought in Mandeep Singh for Mayank Agarwal.

PBKS was off to a slow and shaky start, losing Mandeep (15) in the sixth over after being trapped leg-before by Krunal Pandya, with 36 runs on the board, while three runs later, Chris Gayle (1) fell to pacer Kieron Pollard in the following over. By 48 runs, it lost a couple of more wickets, losing KL Rahul (21) and Nicholas Pooran (2) by the eighth over.

However, it was followed by a 61-run stand between Aiden Markram (42) and Deepak Hooda (28) before spinner Rahul Chahar cleaned up the former in the 16th. In the meantime, 14 runs later, Hooda was dismissed by pacer Bumrah in the 19th, as PBKS finished on 135/6.

MI put six bowlers into effect, with Bumrah and Pollard claiming a couple of wickets each. However, pacer Nathan Coulter-Nile was the most economical of all.

Coming out for the chase, MI was off to a shaky start, losing Rohit (8) and Suryakumar Yadav (0) within the Powerplay, with just 16 on the board. However, Quinton de Kock (27) and Saurabh Tiwary (45) contributed to a 45-run stand before the former played it on to seamer Mohammed Shami in the tenth over.

Nonetheless, a 31-run stand ensued between Tiwary and Hardik Pandya (40*) before, at 94, pacer Nathan Ellis dismissed the former in the 16th. With the required rate mounting up, Pandya and Pollard ensured to finish things off by some risky power-hitting, which eventually paid off, as MI won by six wickets and rising to the fifth spot. As for PBKS, six bowlers were put into the attack, with Bishnoig claiming a couple, while Ellis was highly economical.
Brief scores: PBKS 135/6 (Markram- 42; Coulter-Nile- 2/24) lost to MI 137/4 in 19 overs (Tiwary- 45, Pandya- 40; Bishnoi- 2/25) by six wickets.