How finishing is important in the shorter format, Mumbai taught Punjab in Abu Dhabi to secure 2nd victory of the Indian T20 League. The late batting cranage was associated by the bowlers to help Mumbai to clinch the Thursday encounter by 48 runs.
Toss: Punjab opted to bowl first
Team Changes: Krishnappa Gowtham replaces M Ashwin
in (Punjab)
Mumbai was unchanged
Venue: Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Detailed Match Report
While batting first, Mumbai lost De Cock early on duck in the first over and they lost their second wicket with the run-out of Suryakumar Yadav. Mumbai controlled the pressure and Rohit put a steady stand of 62 runs with Ishan Kishan (28). Rohit completed his 5000 runs in the tournament after Kohli and Raina. Before getting out in 17th over, the skipper scored 70 off 45 balls, including 8 fours and 3 sixes. The late damage by Pollard (47) and Pandya (30) took Mumbai to 191 as the duo added 67 runs off 23 balls for the 5th wicket. In last 6 overs, Mumbai scored 104 runs to shift the momentum in their favour.
Punjab started very well by getting 24 in first two but Bumrah picked Mayank to give early breakthrough and Krunal gave the second blow with Nair’s wicket. Rohit put spin from both ends and it worked as they got KL Rahul in 9th over. Pooran put some elegant hitting but Pattinson got him on the score of 44 to break all the hopes of Punjab. Maxwell failed with the bat and he was off the colour. Krunal Pandya and Rahul Chahar put a decent spin show in Abu Dhabi to hold Punjab on 143. They controlled the run-rate and put pressure on Punjab’s batsmen to play big shots. Rest of the job done by the pace attack in death-overs, lead by Bumrah who picked 2 wickets for just 18 runs.
Star-performer of the match
Kieron Pollard is our star performer of the match. Mumbai required a solid finishing in the end and the West Indian player took Mumbai to 102/3 to 191/4 in last 5 overs. Pollard scored 47 runs from just 20 balls with 3 fours and 4 sixes. This knock helped Mumbai to score 20 runs extra and it made all the difference in the match.
Top 5 impactful players of the game
Rohit Sharma 70 (44)
Kieron Pollard 47 (20)
Nicolas Pooran 44 (27)
Rahul Chahar 4-0-26-2
Jasprit Bumrah 4-0-18-2
