Punjab Kings crush Mumbai Indians

Prabhsimran Singh and Shreyas Iyer struck fluent fifties as Punjab Kings’ winning run continued with a seven-wicket hammering of Mumbai Indians, who suffered a fourth consecutive defeat in the Indian Premier League here on Thursday.

Even as Quinton de Kock, with a brilliant 112 not out, and Naman Dhir (50) bailed the Mumbai Indians out in the first half with a robust 132-run third-wicket stand, the hosts’ 195/6 was never challenging enough on a docile track against the rampant Punjab batters.

Prabhsimran made a wicketless Jasprit Bumrah (0/41) and MI pay for a regulation drop early, smashing a strokeful 80 not out off 31 balls (11x4s, 2x6s), while skipper Iyer was in his elements, notching up his third fifty in as many outings with a 66 off 35 balls (5x4s, 4x6s), as the duo stitched a sturdy 139-run stand for the third wicket.

Chasing 196, PBKS went over the line with 21 balls to spare, scoring 198/3 as MI bowlers continued to disappoint collectively, with AM Ghazanfar’s 2/31 being the only performance of note.

Punjab were quick off the blocks as the first over from Deepak Chahar yielded 21 runs, putting MI on the backfoot.

A pivotal moment arrived in the third over when Bumrah, placed at short third, spilled a regulation chance off Hardik Pandya when Prabhsimran was only on 11.

Ghazanfar dismissed Priyansh Arya (15) and Cooper Connolly (17) to give Mumbai two elusive wickets in the powerplay, but the hosts could never capitalise on those breakthroughs.

Prabhsimran unleashed his rich repertoire of strokes, hitting a flurry of fours, while Iyer relished batting on his home track of the Wankhede Stadium, dispatching the bad balls with ease.

Their 139-run stand came from only 67 balls as Prabhsimran and Iyer eclipsed the first-innings heroics of de Kock and Dhir.

In the 16th over, a powerful pull from Iyer went through Dhir’s hands for a six and the Punjab skipper sent the next from Shardul Thakur flying into the stands. However, a flick off the pads in the air gave Dhir another chance, which he converted with a fine diving catch in the front.

Earlier, a belligerent century from Quinton de Kock (112 not out) and a gritty 50 from Naman Dhir pulled MI out of doldrums and lifted them to an under-par 195/6.

Confined to warming the bench so far, de Kock replaced Rohit Sharma and smacked his third IPL hundred to lead an inspirational fightback for the troubled Mumbai Indians, who had slipped to 15/2 in three overs.

The veteran Protea batter was in his elements during his unbeaten ton — a 60-ball 112 not out (8x4s, 7x6s) and his first in IPL since 2022 — clobbering the ball powerfully on the leg-side and picking boundaries with precision and terrific timing on the off.

Arshdeep Singh (3/22) swung the ball precariously and bowled immaculate lengths to snaffle two key wickets early on, while a third came late in the innings.

After beating Ryan Rickelton (2) persistently with deliveries that swung away, Arshdeep had the South African caught at deep square leg on a shortish ball. He was then all over India T20I skipper Suryakumar Yadav (0), luring him outside off on the first ball and beating him with the swing to have a thick edge flying to short third.

With Suryakumar back in the hut and Tilak Varma (8) out of sorts, MI took a punt in promoting Dhir at No. 4 and the right-handed batter repaid the faith with a gutsy knock.

Dhir was also lucky when on 10, as Yuzvendra Chahal spilled a sitter at short fine-leg off Marco Jansen in the fifth over. He was lucky again when a misjudgement in calling for a single in the next over did not result in de Kock being run-out at the non-striker’s end, as Shreyas Iyer missed the direct hit.

De Kock and Dhir put on 132 off 68 balls in a robust third-wicket stand, which not only revived MI but built a strong platform to push on for a big total, but the hosts could not manage one.

With a strong bottom-hand stroke play, Dhir struck three sixes and as many fours and played a perfect second fiddle to de Kock.

In the 18th over, Iyer had his arms spread wide in celebration after he caught the ball off Hardik Pandya (14) while being airborne over ropes at long-on and hurling it to Xavier Bartlett for a superbly-executed catch.