Chennai: Punjab Kings put an end to its three-match losing streak with a clinical nine-wicket defeat of Mumbai Indians in the IPL here on Friday.In a low-scoring match, Punjab overcame middle-overs sluggishness to comfortably reach the target with 14 balls to spare. This is Punjab’s second win in five matches, while the two-time defending champion Mumbai recorded its third loss in five games. What should please Punjab the most was the return to form of Chris Gayle, following a string of failures, who gave glimpses of his ability in an unbeaten knock of 43 (35, 5×4, 2×6).
The self-proclaimed Universe Boss found the going tough initially before cutting loose with a few scrumptious shots, including a six each off Jayant Yadav and Trent Boult, in particular, screaming for attention. Setting off in pursuit of 132, Punjab got off to a quick start with openers Mayank Agarwal 25 (20b, 4×4, 1×6) and KL Rahul scoring runs without breaking much sweat in the powerplay.
Rahul smote Jasprit Bumrah for a six in the third over before Agarwal hit two fours off Boult in the fourth to shift the pressure back on Mumbai bowlers.
Agarwal continued in the same vein clobbering a six off Krunal Pandya before perishing to Rahul Chahar in the eighth over. Captain Rahul continued sedately and grew in confidence in the presence of Gayle as he played a crucial innings of 60 not out (52b, 3×4, 3×6).
Earlier, Punjab produced a disciplined bowling performance to restrict Mumbai to 131 for six despite a fine half-century by Rohit Sharma. Mumbai struggled to 21 for one in the first six overs, the lowest powerplay score this season after being put into bat.
KL Rahul, Man of the Match and Winning captain, said, ‘We don’t want to get too ahead of ourselves. Slowly we are coming together as a team. We are still a young team. Every year we keep bringing in newer guys. It’s important to be patient. The guys we have backed and given opportunities are slowly coming through. Hooda has been playing really well, Shahrukh got an opportunity and he’s been batting really well, Bishnoi came in this game and the way he bowled was brilliant. Fingers crossed, hopefully we can keep climbing and keep getting two points every game. Main coach did have a little bit of a long chat about batting second. I felt that the wicket was sticky. I felt that the bowlers always were under pressure, it was important that they bowled on a wicket like this early. We had heard that there was a lot of dew here. I felt like that could play a part. The drier ball started to grip, when it turns and bounces like that, it gets really hard. It was good of Chris that he got through that period. He was always confident that he could make it up. He knew whom to target. That’s what you get with Chris, not just destructive batting but also experience of so many years playing T20 cricket. I am sure it gives him (Bishnoi) a lot of confidence. He unfortunately missed the first few games, he’s been working really hard with Anil bhai. There were a few things he needed to correct and he’s been somebody who’s brave, that’s very good to see. He held his composure and bowled really well. When I know what target I am chasing, it gets slightly easier to pace the innings. Really happy with the way I finished the game and that’s the most important thing.”