Tilak stars as MI crush PBKS’ playoff hopes

Punjab Kings slumped to their fifth straight defeat, seriously hurting their playoff hopes, as Mumbai Indians cruised to a six-wicket win in a crucial IPL clash on Thursday, riding on Shardul Thakur’s four-wicket haul and a clinical batting effort from Tilak Varma, who smashed 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 go past 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 up 53 runs in the last three overs to post a competitive 200 for 8.

Chasing the target, Ryan Rickelton came out blazing as he single-handedly propelled Mumbai Indians to 59 for no loss despite Rohit Sharma’s scratchy 25 at the other end.

PBKS fought back with three wickets for 57 runs between the seventh and 13th overs, but Tilak Varma anchored the chase superbly with an unbeaten 33-ball 75. He first stitched a 61-run stand off 42 balls with Sherfane Rutherford (20) and then combined with Will Jacks to steer MI home in 19.5 overs.

The defeat 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 delivered two outstanding overs with the new ball, conceding just eight runs, but lacked support from the other end as Rickelton tore into the attack with four boundaries and four sixes during his explosive 23-ball 48.

Skipper Shreyas Iyer rotated his seamers in the powerplay, but Rickelton launched the assault with a six off Azmatullah Omarzai before hammering Marco Jansen and Xavier Bartlett.

Azmatullah eventually provided the breakthrough by dismissing Rickelton, while Jansen removed Naman Dhir (9). Yuzvendra Chahal then pulled things back briefly with a superb spell, first strangling Rohit for runs and later castling him as MI slipped to 89 for 3.

Tilak and Rutherford rebuilt the innings calmly before shifting gears, targeting Azmatullah for a 13-run over to ease the pressure. Arshdeep nearly provided another breakthrough when Tilak miscued a skier, but Jansen failed to hold on to a difficult chance.

With 72 needed off the last five overs, PBKS turned to Chahal again, but Tilak and Rutherford counterattacked brilliantly, taking 20 runs off the leg-spinner’s over.

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 decisively swing the chase in MI’s favour.

Needing 15 from six balls, Tilak smashed two sixes to knock off the winning runs.

Earlier, Deepak Chahar (2/36) struck first for MI, cleaning up Arya in the fifth over but stand-in skipper Jasprit Bumrah was unlucky not to get Prabhsimran earlier after Naman Dhir dropped a straightforward catch off a thick edge in the second over.

Prabhsimran made the visitor pay as he slog-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 off Shardul over backward square leg.

However, the momentum shifted dramatically once Shardul, who had conceded 15 runs in his opening over, struck twice in the space of three balls.

The pacer removed the well-set Prabhsimran and then dismissed skipper Shreyas Iyer (4) as PBKS slipped badly.

Raj Bawa (1/11) then joined the act, castling 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 counterattack in the death overs with a 17-ball 38 studded with two sixes and a four, while Vishnu Vinod and Xavier Bartlett added valuable late runs as Punjab crossed the 200-run mark for the eighth time this season.