Highlights, IPL 2018, MI vs KXIP at Wankhede, Full Cricket Score: Mumbai stay alive after thrilling 3-run victory

That’s a wrap to an exhilarating evening at Wankhede, the last home game for the Mumbai Indians as they fly to the capital to stake a claim in the final four. KXIP still have a chance, so do RR and RCB. Virat Kohli’s men will host Sunrisers Hyderabad tomorrow and a lot of the teams will have their eyes fixed on it. We will be here bringing you all the LIVE scores, updates, over-by-over commentary and lot more. Thank you for your company tonight, hope to see you tomorrow.

Rohit Sharma, Mumbai Indians captain: Holding up nicely. Obviously you feel nice after a win. I thought we played a perfect game. Whatever we asked of the boys, they came out and delivered. It’s never been easy for us since the past few years. We always knew it was going to be a good pitch and a high-scoring game. But we fell 10-15 runs short. The bowlers came out and delivered. Pollard has always been a match winner. As a team, we thought it’s time for to get him back. Nothing taking away from JP Duminy, he wasn’t getting enough opportunities. But we thought if someone was going to bat down the order, Pollard was the right choice. (On Bumrah) Absolutely right. I think Bumrah has come a long way. He is the one who is taking the responsibility for the last two years. Malinga will always be missed but since he’s gone, we’ve known Bumrah is the one to take the charge.  He might not be up there in the wickets column, but what he does for us is more important.

Jasprit Bumrah: Clarity is very important wen you’re bowling in the death. When I am clear it is easy to execute. It doesn’t change at the last moment.  Even on a bad day when a batsman hits you, you just have to execute your plan.That is my basic plan to have clarity. He is batting really throughout the season. Timing the ball from first game. Difficult to bowl to such a batsman. But I was backing myself. I was clear and it was a good day and it worked. His wicket was very important. On this wicket where the slower ball was bowled on a good length, it was gripping, so I looked to bowl a dipper and it worked. I was able to execute it, so it is a good day.

Jasprit Bumrah is the Man of the Match.

KL Rahul’s brilliant knock goes in vain. Wonder what this Punjab team would have looked like had he not been there. MI hang on to a loose thread but they hang on. McClenaghan does push ups to celebrate the win. A lot of exercise still left however.

KXIP captain, Ravichandran Ashwin: Pretty blank at this point of time.We were in the chase all along. Pretty professional batting performance. Just didn’t look to work out in the end. It look like a clinical romp when those two (Rahul and Finch) were batting. Credit to Bumrah showed why he is one of the very best and once again proved what a good bowler he is. Today was one of those days where he had to cap off a victory and do it for ourselves. Now we have look at other results and depend on some luck. Played well tonight but. We will were very abstract about our performance in the last game and spoke about our best batsmen taking it deep. Credit to both KL and Aaron. He is looking like a million dollars this time. It’s very difficult to say what Rahul has done right or wrong – he’s hardly mistimed a ball this season. Hopefully fingers crossed.

KXIP in IPL – 11:

First six matches: 5 wins, 1 defeat

Next seven matches:  6 defeats, 1 win

Mumbai Indians win by 3 runs. The defending champions are still alive in the tournament. They move into the top 4 with 12 points and a +0.38 Net run rate.

Ball 6: FOUR! McClenaghan doesn’t bowl a wide or a no-ball. It is a legitimate delivery into Tiwary’s body, who is able to swivel and steer it past short fine leg for a boundary, but is no good as Mumbai Indians hold their nerve to win a thriller.

Ball 5: 1 bye. Terrific bouncer under pressure from the big Kiwi. Patel misses the pull and Kishan throws it back into the play, giving it back to the bowler, who runs back instead of throwing it on the stumps. 8 off 1 balls.

Ball 4: SIX! Juicy full toss and Axar Patel smacks it over long on for a six. 9 off 2

Ball 3: OUT! Length and wide off offstump. Yuvraj gets the connection, but the ball doesn’t have the legs to go through. Cover fielder comes in and gobbles it up. 15 off 3.

Ball 3: Wide! McClenaghan angles across from round the wicket and Yuvi leaves it alone. Has been called a wide. 15 off 4

Ball 2: Big swing and just the connection with the waft of air. McCleneghan bowled length and he misses. 16 off 4.

Ball 1: 1 bye. Patel moves across his stumps to swipe it on the leg side. Misses, the ball sneaks under his bat. Kishan spills it allows one run.

Exceptional bowling from Jasprit Bumrah in a crucial clash. Will that be enough for a Mumbai Indians victory? 

KXIP need 17 off 6

Mitchell McClenaghan to bowl the final over. 17 needed off 6 balls.

After 19 overs,Kings XI Punjab 170/4 ( Axar Patel 4 , Yuvraj Singh 1)

Incredible penultimate over by Jasprit Bumrah! Six runs off the penultimate over. Superb spell giving away just 15 runs and bagging three wickets. Leaves 17 in the bank for the bowler who will bowl the last over. End of an unreal innings from KL Rahul, who missed out on a deserving 100.

Yuvraj Singh in IPL – 11 so far:

14, 14, 20, 4, 12 

Can he win it for KXIP today?

OUT! Is that the match!? Bumrah has got the massive wicket. KL Rahul walks back after a magnificent innings. Bumrah rolls his fingers over the ball once again as Rahul isn’t able to time his shot. Holes out to long off. Cutting takes the catch. MI are still alive.

KL Rahul c Cutting b Bumrah 94 (60)

KL Rahul now holds the record of scoring most runs while chasing in an IPL season, going past David Warner’s tally of 468 runs which he scored in 2016.

Astonishing stuff from KL Rahul. Played fluent text book cricket for a major part of innings and then took the help of reverse sweeps to hit two boundaries…As he hit the last boundary, spectators sitting in the front row got up and started leaving. Effect of a confident batsman in a chase.

After 18 overs,Kings XI Punjab 164/3 ( Lokesh Rahul (W) 93 , Axar Patel 1)

KL Rahul is ensuring KXIP are well in it. The battle is surely between Bumrah and Rahul now after Cutting’s over costs 15 runs. 23 needed off 12 deliveries.

Indian players to hit 30 or more sixes in an IPL season:

38 – Virat Kohli in 2016

32 – KL RAHUL in 2018*

31 – Rishabh Pant in 2018

FOUR! And again!  Cutting goes length and this time the only difference is he has played it fine almost over the first slip. Another boundary. Into the 90s.

FOUR! The shot is inexplicable! Rahul played almost like a left-hander, switches his grip and reverses over short third man for a boundary.

FOUR! Gift from Cutting to Rahul. Short and down the leg side. Rahul gets inside the line off the ball and swivels and pulls it to fine leg boundary.

Cutting introduced for the first time in the 18th over.

After 17 overs,Kings XI Punjab 149/3 ( Lokesh Rahul (W) 79 , Axar Patel 0)

Excellent over from Bumrah picking up two quick wickets and giving just 4 runs off the 17th over is simply outstanding. Lest we forget, Krunal Pandya’s superlative effort in the deep to save two runs. Something that lifts the mood off the entire team. Inspiring.

KXIP need 38 off 18 balls. With Bumrah to bowl six off them. He has given 9 runs off his three overs.

Rohit turns to Bumrah and Bumrah turns the game on its head. Two wickets in one over and there is no sight of Yuvraj Singh yet. That is surprising if not shocking…

OUT! Intelligent cricket from Bumrah. A well-directed short ball gets the wicket of Marcus Stoinis. He was certainly not expecting the bouncer that was angled well into the batsman, who gloves it to Ishan Kishan behind the stumps.

Stoinis c Ishan Kishan b Bumrah 1(2)

OUT! Bumrah strikes! To the moon and back. Finch hit it long into Mumbai’s night sky. It took ages, perhaps aeons to come down. Hardik settled nicely under it to claim the catch. Can be tough, but nerves of steel from Pandya Jr.

Big wicket!

Finch c Hardik Pandya b Bumrah 46(35)

After 16 overs,Kings XI Punjab 145/1 ( Lokesh Rahul (W) 76 , Aaron Finch 46)

Markande starts off with the ball into Rahul’s pads. Cramping him for room, who can tap it only for a single down the ground.Finch had some issue with helmet into the previous over, he has removed it this time around. Finch miscues his pull and top edge over the keeper allows him only a single. KL Rahul tries something fancy as he brings out the reverse scoop, gets it over the third man but Krunal pulls it back to keep it down to just two runs. But Rahul makes it KXIP’s over with couple of massive sixes off the final two deliveries.

42 needed off 24 balls

SIX! This is bigger and better! Gigantic hit to finish the over. This gone almost in top tier. Enormous hit.

Two sixes that defines KL Rahul’s innings thus far. Aggression walking hand in hand with subtlety … Pressure released..  Rohit turns to Bumrah. What next?

The 100-run stand is up between Rahul and Finch. They have kept Punjab’s chase on track. Rahul has  ended the 16th over with two sixes. 

SIX! More like from the coaching manual. Rahul skips down the track, gets to the pitch and hammers it over long on. As easy as you like it.

After 15 overs,Kings XI Punjab 127/1 ( Lokesh Rahul (W) 61 , Aaron Finch 43)

Hardik comes on to bowl his final over. 36 off his first three overs.

Begins with a full toss that is firmly hit down to long off for a single. Couple of wayward wides before he flummoxes KL’s mighty swing with a slower ball. Pandya digs it in short to surprise Finch, who isn’t able to get the bat on ball trying to pull the ball. A single to deep cover and another single to Rahul to long off to end the over. Good last over. Just gave six runs off the 8 balls that he bowled. 

Strong finish to what has been a dismal day for Hardik.

KXIP need 60 off 30 balls. Asking rate: 12 runs per over.

So 66 needed off 36 balls. Some of the spectators have already given up. Nevertheless Mumbai are still very much in it. One good over and wicket and we might see a new batsman put under pressure and required run rate increasing. Yuvraj Singh seems to be the next man in.

After 14 overs,Kings XI Punjab 121/1 ( Lokesh Rahul (W) 59 , Aaron Finch 41)

Krunal Pandya starts his final over. Rahul shimmies down the wicket with Pandya pulling his length back didn’t allow him to go for the big shot. Boundary rider Cutting does extremely well in the field to save a couple runs for his team on the onside. 10 runs off Krunal’s over, he finishes with figures of 0/36.

66 needed off the final 6.

Aaron Finch has just gone past his previous highest score of 34 in this IPL which he made against KKR at Indore.

FOUR! Hammered down the ground with immense power. Krunal did try to put his hands out to catch it but was never going to catch it.

After 13 overs,Kings XI Punjab 111/1 ( Lokesh Rahul (W) 58 , Aaron Finch 33)

McClenaghan runs in round the wicket to begin his third over. One boundaries each for KL and Finch as they continue their march towards the target. 12 runs off the over as KXIP go past the 100-run mark. 76 runs required off 42 balls. Asking rate 10.86.

FOUR! Good shot from Finch. Difficult to flat-bat the back of a length delivery over mid off for another boundary. All muscle there.

FOUR! Poor lines from the McClenaghan. On the hips proving Rahul a freebie to paddle it to fine leg boundary.

After 12 overs,Kings XI Punjab 99/1 ( Lokesh Rahul (W) 52 , Aaron Finch 27)

Tight over from Mumbai Indians’ strike bowler. Even Rahul and Finch respecting Bumrah, taking four singles off the over, but MI need wickets. These two can afford to play out Bumrah and target the rest. But if MI strike they get a chance to have a go at their out of form middle order.

KL Rahul has now scored six fifties while chasing in IPL 11 – the joint most by a player in an IPL season. David Warner also scored six fifties while chasing in IPL 2016.

Jasprit Bumrah has been brought back into the attack.

Another fifty for KL Rahul. His purple patch continues. 

Ben Cutting fielding at long on near to where I am sitting and can see him rubbing his hands on the towel tucked at behind his trousers. It is very humid here and should be the result of that rather than dew.

After 11 overs,Kings XI Punjab 95/1 ( Lokesh Rahul (W) 50 , Aaron Finch 25)

Krunal pulls out first, then Rahul’s chance to ask the bowler to re-bowl. After that mini clash. Rahul get to the other end. Finch sweeps for a boundary and Rahul gets to his half-century off the last ball. 92 off 54 needed.

FIFTY! KL Rahul completes another dazzling half-century.  Special player this, what a fantastic season he is having. 50 off 36 deliveries. KXIP dug out stands up and appluads.

Ben Cutting fielding at long on near to where I am sitting and can see him rubbing his hands on the towel tucked at behind his trousers. It is very humid here and should be the result of that rather than dew. Meanwhile a fitting fifty for KL Rahul. What a majestic display of batting reiterating the fact that aggression cannot model itself in one shape.

FOUR! Finch bends on his knee and sweeps powerfully past the short third man fielder.

After 10 overs,Kings XI Punjab 86/1 ( Lokesh Rahul (W) 47 , Aaron Finch 19)

Hardik Pandya is brought back into the attack. Starts off with three singles off first three balls. The second wicket partnership between Rahul and Finch goes past 50-run mark. Rahul to retain strike with a single off the final ball.

101 runs required off the last 10 overs with nine wickets in hand. Tense finish beckons.

After 9 overs,Kings XI Punjab 80/1 ( Lokesh Rahul (W) 43 , Aaron Finch 17)

Change of tactics from Markande. Keeps it flat and bowls wicket-to-wicket or keeps it way outside off stump. Bowled a wide delivery outside off as well. Six singles and a wide off the over. Rahul goes past 600-runs in this IPL. Extraordinary.

Players to score 600-plus runs for KXIP in IPL:

Shaun Marsh in 2008
KL RAHUL in 2018*

Indian players to score 600-plus runs in an IPL season:

Virat Kohli, 2016 and 2013

Robin Uthappa, 2014

Sachin Tendulkar, 2010

KL RAHUL, 2018*

KL Rahul is now the highest run-getter in IPL 11, going past Rishabh Pant’s tally of 582 runs.

After 8 overs,Kings XI Punjab 73/1 ( Lokesh Rahul (W) 40 , Aaron Finch 14)

Rahul has raced into the 40s. The Karnataka batsman continues his impressive run with the bat and goes past Rishabh Pant’s runs tally to snatch the orange cap. Seven runs off the over.

FOUR! Smart! Pandya bowls it short and wide and Rahul finds the gap once again to cut it to the point boundary. Superb cricket from Rahul.

After 7 overs,Kings XI Punjab 66/1 ( Lokesh Rahul (W) 34 , Aaron Finch 13)
 

After the boundary off the first ball, Rahul and Finch are happy to knock the ball around into the wide gaps since the fielding restrictions have been lifted to take five singles off the remaining deliveries. Sensible batting.

FOUR! Was just a fraction short and Rahul transfers his weight on the backfoot, creates room and cuts it into the gap.

Mayank Markande introduced into the attack

The difference between Finch hitting a four and a Rahul hitting a four is simple. When Finch hits a ball, the sound of the bat hitting the ball echoes in the stadium. When Rahul hits, there is barely any sound. He is that sort of a player. Making less noises, having more impact.

After 6 overs,Kings XI Punjab 57/1 ( Lokesh Rahul (W) 27 , Aaron Finch 11)

Rahul has ensured the run-rate doesn’t dip after Gayle’s fall. Attacked Krunal from ball one and KXIP race past 50 in the sixth over. Finch has looked good so far.

FOUR! Darted into the batsman and Rahul unfurls the lap sweep that evades the short fineleg fielder and runs into the boundary.

DROPPED! Little width and Rahul looks to cut. He had hit it hard and Cutting timed his jump well and stuck his hand out over his head but couldn’t hold on. Full marks for the attempt, unfortunately for him it didn’t stick.

FOUR! Beautiful use of the feet from Rahul.  Comes down the wicket and lofts it to long on boundary. Falls just short to before bouncing over the fence.

Krunal Pandya into the attack. Will bowl the last over off the powerplay.

After 5 overs,Kings XI Punjab 46/1 ( Lokesh Rahul (W) 17 , Aaron Finch 10)

The six off the final ball dents Hardik’s figures futher, after giving six runs off the first five balls including a brace, it ends as a 12-run over.

SIX! Gee what a hit that by Aaron Finch! Length delivery and the Aussie gave it a full monty! The ball went long and deep into the stands.

Gayle departs and the noise level at Wankhede has increased. Good setup by McClenaghan as he bowled a few short ones and prompted this shot by Gayle. Finch at number 3.

After 4 overs,Kings XI Punjab 34/1 ( Lokesh Rahul (W) 16 , Aaron Finch 0)

McCleneghan has done his job to get the wicket of Gayle early in the innings. If MI are able get Rahul in another two or three overs. They could well be in the driver’s seat.

OUT! It was the effort ball from McCleneghan and Gayle has fell for it.  Gayle went for the pull and with the delivery climbing on the big man, he couldn’t keep it down. The bat turned in his hands and Ben Cutting did well to judge the catch in the deep at deep mid wicket. Just the wicket MI wanted.

Gayle c Cutting b McClenaghan 18(11)

FOUR! Full ball outside off and Gayle clears his front leg and slams it over mid-on for four.

After 3 overs,Kings XI Punjab 28/0 ( Lokesh Rahul (W) 15 , Chris Gayle 13)

Very expensive first over from Hardik Pandya. All the hardwork done by Bumrah in the previous over has gone in vain with Hardik leaking 19 runs off it.

FOUR! Driven handsomely through covers by KL Rahul. Super shot!

FOUR! Unfortunate for Hardik. Genuine outside edge and the ball goes through the first slip to the third man boundary.

FOUR! Width on offer and Gayle slashes, gets the top edge and with the short third man in the circle the ball goes over the boundary after a boundary.

SIX! No time for a warm up delivery. Pandya starts off with a half-tracker and Gayle swats it across and the ball goes flat into the Sunil Gavaskar stand.

Hardik Pandya into the attack

After 2 overs,Kings XI Punjab 9/0 ( Lokesh Rahul (W) 7 , Chris Gayle 2)

Bumrah begins with a short ball slanted across the big frame of Chris Gayle. The left-hander leaves it alone. Rotates the strike to mid on. Bumrah rolls his fingers over the ball and KL Rahul is unable to get bat on ball. He tried to go up and over the point fielder, the extra bounce didn’t allow the batsman to get a connection. Bumrah delivers a good first over, giving away just a run.

Chris Gayle and KL Rahul’s pair becomes the first pair to add 500-plus runs in this season of IPL.

Jasprit Bumrah will bowl the second over.

After 1 overs,Kings XI Punjab 8/0 ( Lokesh Rahul (W) 7 , Chris Gayle 1)

Ball nips back into Rahul and he taps it through covers for his first run. Gayle tucks it backward square leg to get off the mark and a lucky six for Rahul in the first over. Lewis does well at backward point to fierecely cut short to dive and keep it down to zero.

SIX! We saw the ball flying over the boundary off the top edge in the first innings. Similar to Suryakumar Yadav’s six early in the evening, KL Rahul too gets a top edge that flies straight over wicket-keeper’s head for a maximum. McCleneghan feels hard done.

Rohit Sharma and company take field. With KL Rahul and Chris Gayle ready to start the innings. McCleneghan to begin with the ball.

First innings comes to an end with both teams dominating the game in passages that let Mumbai Indians reach 186 in the end. MI started off briskly despite losing Lewis early. And it was in the sixth over that they lost two wickets off two balls in Tye’s first over. Kieron Pollard on his comeback game was the star with the bat for MI, who struck a cracking half-century with Krunal providing good support. When those two were batting MI were looking good for a score in excess of 200, but Ashwin and Tye came back strongly in their second spell to pick wickets and stem the run flow.

Should be a good chase, but if KXIP openers get going, the target of 187 might look extremely small. MI are fighting for survival here, losing here will make it nearly impossible for them to make it to the playoffs, so very important for the hosts to pick early wickets and expose their feeble middle order as soon as possible.

Terrific stuff from Punjab to pull things back. Ashwin and Tye stood out today. MI were on track when Pollard was there but his and Hardik’s departure meant they were going to fall short of the 200 run-mark. As for Punjab, onus again on Gayle and Rahul to give them a good start. Also, all eyes will be om Yuvraj Singh as and when he comes out to bat.

MI today:

First 10 overs – 79/4 (RR – 7.90)

Next 10 overs – 107/4 (RR – 10.70)

Mumbai Indians finish with 186 runs in their 20 overs.

Mohit Sharma’s last over started with a boundary from Markande, but he varied it well to give away only seven runs off the remaining five deliveries, including a no-ball and a free-hit. Markande did try to scoop it a couple times and McCleneghan missed to belt it out of the park.

Andrew Tye becomes the first player to take three four wicket-hauls in a single season fo IPL.

Pacers with most four wicket-hauls in IPL:

5 – Lasith Malinga

4 – Laxmipathy Balaji, ANDREW TYE*

3 – Munaf Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar

An exceptional outing for Andrew Tye at the Wankhede. 

FOUR! Markande gets into the act.  Mohit Sharma tried the bumper outside off stump and Markande ramps it right off third man.

After 19 overs,Mumbai Indians 175/8 ( Mitchell McClenaghan 10 , Mayank Markande 1)

Another fine over from Andrew Tye. He almost got a fifer, the ball bounced just ahead of wicket-keeper Rahul after taking an edge off McClenaghan’s bat. Tremendous effort to finish with just 16 runs off his four overs along with four wickets is remarkable.

OUT! Tye has his fourth! Need not tell you what ball it was from the wily Australian. Was wide off Hardik and he chased the ball that had no pace on it. Gets the edge to short third.

Hardik Pandya c Ashwin b Andrew Tye 9(12)

After 18 overs,Mumbai Indians 168/7 ( Hardik Pandya 7 , Mitchell McClenaghan 6)

The Kings XI bowlers have done a splendid job to pull things back in their favour. Ashwin holding himself for ther death shows he is ready to take up the responsibilty. Hardik need to fire for MI in the final two.

SIX! Slog sweep! McClenaghan facing his first delivery gets down on his knee and slams it over mid wicket boundary.

OUT! Ashwin scalps another wicket. Was the carrom ball, outside the off stump. Cutting for some reason decided to sweep and that turned out to be fatal. Not a very wise shot. MI continue lose their way.

Cutting c Axar b Ashwin 4(7)

The last time before today when Pollard scored a fifty in an IPL match was also against KXIP at Wankhede in 2017 but MI lost the match.

Hardik Pandya’s dismissals in IPL 11:

v Pace – Seven

v Spin – Zero

After 17 overs,Mumbai Indians 157/6 ( Hardik Pandya 4 , Ben Cutting 3)

Tye is back into the attack and delivers another fine over. He had given just five runs off his first two overs and picked three key wickets, he has bowled the 17th over giving away just three runs. Mixed it up nicely with all his variations along with a surprise short ball to his compatriot Cutting. 

Will be difficult for MI to hit him in the death but these two will have to target the other bowlers to get to 180-190 which is just about par at Wankhede.

After 16 overs,Mumbai Indians 154/6 ( Hardik Pandya 3 , Ben Cutting 1)

Still don’t know why Punjab haven’t bowl more spin. Looks like Ashwin has held himself back for the death overs alongside Tye. Cutting gets off the mark with a sweep exposing all three stumps after Pollard was dismissed off the previous ball. Ashwin completes his second over giving away just three singles.

OUT! Clearly Punjab missed the trick by not bowling spin to Pollard. Ashwin comes on strikes. He had bowled it wide off offstump and Pollard looked to fetch the ball and slam it down the ground. Didn’t get it from the centre and ended up holing out to long off.

Pollard c Finch b Ashwin 50(23)

Pollard gets to his fifty and as a Punjab fan you would ask how do you make an out of form batsman come back to his natural best so easy. Lousy stuff from Punjab. They had MI on back foot and then let the runs  flow quickly. If Pollard gets going 200 is on.

A 22-ball 50 for Kieron Pollard in his comeback match.

After 15 overs,Mumbai Indians 151/5 ( Kieron Pollard 50 , Hardik Pandya 1)

Over in two halves: Three runs and a wicket off the first three balls and 4,4, 6 off the last three balls. Pollard on the attack. Raced away to his half-century.

FIFTY! Slower ball from Stoinis and Pollard reads it early. Waits for it and blasts it over long off to get to their half-century. In his comeback game, the big MI legend has announced himself. 50 off 22 balls.

FOUR! Pollard is lucky once again. Was looking to whack it over long off, gets a thick outside edge and the ball flies over short third man and beats the fielder in the deep as well. Squarer than the previous boundary but still away from the fielder.

FOUR! Stoinis tried to bowl the wide yorker there. Ended up as a full ball, deep in his crease, Pollard looked to drill it through covers but gets an outside edge and with the short third in the ring, there was no stopping that one.

OUT! Stoinis provides a timely breakthrough for KXIP. Was the slower bouncer and Krunal went for the pull, the ball was rising over his head and there was no way he was going to keep it down. Takes the tope edge giving the simplest of catches to short fine leg fielder.

K Pandya c Rajpoot b Stoinis 32 (23)

After 14 overs,Mumbai Indians 134/4 ( Krunal Pandya 30 , Kieron Pollard 36)

Amazing recovery from MI. Pollard is back amongst runs and he is getting the big boundaries as well. KXIP persisting with pace and Pollard won’t mind that at all. 18 runs off the over.

FOUR! Too straight and full on Pollard’s legs and the ball has been whipped to backward square leg boundary. Rajpoot is under the pump.

The 50-run stand is up between Krunal Pandya and Kieron Pollard.

The game is going at a snail’s pace here. Ashwin is taking all the time in the world to set his field as players run from one end of the ground to the other. Floodlights failure played its part as well.

FOUR! Rajpoot provides him length outside off and it has been driven powerfully by Polly. These two have raced apst the 50-run stand. Finch dived and got a hand to the ball, but could only half stop it as the ball continues its way to cover boundary.

SIX! Pollard takes this from outside the off stump and slams it over wide long on for another six. He hitting the straps just at the right time for MI.

After 13 overs,Mumbai Indians 116/4 ( Krunal Pandya 29 , Kieron Pollard 21)

Was good over from Patel until his final delivery that was smacked for six with the bowler dropping it short. 12 runs off the over. MI are clawing their way back into the match.

SIX! Brutal strike from the big man, Kieron Pollard. Patel drops it short and Pollard goes back and pulls it deep into the stands over mid wicket fence.

After 12 overs,Mumbai Indians 104/4 ( Krunal Pandya 25 , Kieron Pollard 13)

Pandya has decided to step up the run rate. Consecutive sixes, followed by a boundary to take MI past 100. He is looking good to give MI the impetus it requires. 19 runs off it.

FOUR! Length ball outside off from Stoinis and Krunal creams it through the covers. Perfectly placed to beat the men in the deep. Good attacking cricket from the elder Pandya.

SIX! This one is backed with a lot of power. Short of a length and Krunal rocks back to tonk it over mid wicket fence for a 74m six.

SIX! Unorthodox shot from Krunal Pandaya. What a pick up shot off the hips over the fine leg boundary. The fielder in the deep was interested for a long while as he leapt to pull the ball back in, but was just over.

After 11 overs,Mumbai Indians 85/4 ( Krunal Pandya 8 , Kieron Pollard 11)

Patel gets the second half off the innings underway after the unforseen delay. Pollard places it wide off long off and runs back for the second run. Two more singles before Patel fires it down the legside for a wide. Ends the over with another single to long on.

Punjab team is back on ground. And MI batsmen are making their way back too. We are good to go. Lets see if this disruption has any affect on the game.

KXIP players are back on the ground. Play to resume in a few minutes.

Delay in play as couple of floodlight towers seemed to have lost power at the Wankhede stadium. The crowds at the stadium make use for the flashlights available on their phones. Well, that is not going to help the cricket to resume, but certainly for some entertainment.

Kieron Pollard’s last five innings against KXIP in IPL: 

50*, 27, 10, 7*, 20

Krunal Pandya and Kieron Pollard look to steady Mumbai Indians’ innings after Tye’s three-wicket haul. 

After 10 overs,Mumbai Indians 79/4 ( Krunal Pandya 7 , Kieron Pollard 7)

Pollard bunts it down to long on for single. Play and miss for Krunal, he doesn’t read Stoinis’ off-cutter. Quiet phase for MI despite the boundary from Pollard in the over. At the halfway stage 79/4. They had 57 runs off the first five.

FOUR! Cross-seamer from Stoinis, held it back of a length and Pollard stood tall to punch it off the backfoot. Top shot from the big man. There is always value for good shots in cricket. Ball raced away to cover boundary.

Marcus Stoinis comes into the attack. Will bowl the 10th over.

Rohit Sharma at Wankhede in IPL 11:

15, 18, 94, 2, 11, 0, 6

After 9 overs,Mumbai Indians 72/4 ( Krunal Pandya 6 , Kieron Pollard 1)

The move to bring back Rajpoot works perfectly for the visitors. Just when Krunal and Rohit were settling in. Rajpoot has struck and pushed them back. MI need a partnership as out of flavour Pollard comes in at number six.

Great move by Ashwin to give another over to Rajpoot after two tight overs of spin bowling and he has provided the breakthrough. Pollard is the new man in. MI think tank will have their fingers crossed.

So Ashwin’s bowling change has worked here. Ankit Rajpoot had been taken to cleaners by Suryakumar Yadav, but his extra pace has brought the fall of out-of-form Rohit Sharma. Massive breakthrough this for KXIP. In 14 balls since powerplay, MI have only scored 11 runs and have lost their skipper.

OUT! Rajpoot bends his back and digs it in short. Rohit Sharma was looking to pull and slap it through mid wicket, instead the ball hits the bat hard near the maker’s name with the bat twirling in his hand. Easy catch for Yuvraj at mid on. Big blow for MI. In 8.2 overs MI 71/4

Rohit c Yuvraj b Rajpoot 6(10)

After 8 overs,Mumbai Indians 71/3 ( Rohit Sharma (C) 6 , Krunal Pandya 6)

Good move to bat Krunal up the order. Besides from giving a left and right option, today he has got the time to get himself in and build his innings. Rohit and Krunal knock five singles off the over.

Ravichandran Ashwin brings himself on in the 8th over.

After 7 overs,Mumbai Indians 66/3 ( Rohit Sharma (C) 3 , Krunal Pandya 4)

Rebuilding phase for the Mumbai Indians. Rohit gets off the mark with a single to long off, will be huge relief for the MI captain. He needs to bat through given how crucial is today’s games. Rohit had a good outing against the Punjab side in the reverse fixture and he will have to play well today. Six singles off the over.

Rohit Sharma v KXIP in IPL:

Innings – 20

Runs – 522

Average – 34.50

SR – 141.90

50s – 5

Spin for the first time today and it is Axar Patel who has come on to bowl.

Suryakumar Yadav becomes the first Indian uncapped player to score 500-plus runs in a single season of IPL.

Back-to-back wickets for Tye. What an impact player. After a flying start, suddenly MI are losing their way. And wait… it is Krunal who walks in and not Hardik. No sight of Pollard as well thus far. Guess MI trust him to stabilize the innings.

After 6 overs,Mumbai Indians 60/3 ( Rohit Sharma (C) 0 , Krunal Pandya 1)

Terrific over from Andrew Tye. Shows why he is so highly rated in the shortest format. He has bagged all the three wickets so far and 23 in this tournament, he is extending his lead as the purple cap holder.

That’s a big big blow. Suryakumar is MI’s in-form batsman and they needed him to go on. The hosts are in trouble, having lost top three inside powerplay.

OUT! Tye strikes twice thrice! Twice off consecutive deliveries. Suryakumar Yadav was looking to play it around the corner, the ball takes the bottom edge not his thigh and bobs up to the keeper for simple catch. Tough luck for Surya.

Suryakumar Yadav c Rahul b Andrew Tye 27(15)

OUT! Tye strikes twice! Kishan is the man who will make the long walk back. It is the knuckle ball once again! Kishan was looking to attack, went flat-batted but couldn’t time it. The mid on back paddles a few steps and completes a simple catch.

Ishan Kishan c Stoinis b Andrew Tye 20(12)

After 5 overs,Mumbai Indians 57/1 ( Suryakumar Yadav 26 , Ishan Kishan (W) 19)

These short boundaries at Wankhede are so cruel for the bowlers. Mohit’s over cost 18 runs as MI look to get things going after Lewis’ wicket. Couple of sixes for Kishan in the over.

SIX! Kishan charges down the ground and throws his bat at a ball that was  bowled slightly wide off the batsman, gets the outer half off the bat but the ball flies over deep backward point fence.

SIX! Not the best of the deliveries from Mohit Sharma. Bowled to the strength of Kishan. Nothing delivery to be honest, around the waist area and Kishan loves playing the pick up shot to earn himself six runs.

FOUR! Streaky. Kishan hasn’t look really confident so far as he gets another edge that goes wide off the first slip and runs down to third man fence.

After 4 overs,Mumbai Indians 39/1 ( Suryakumar Yadav 26 , Ishan Kishan (W) 2)

Just the over KXIP wanted after Rajpoot’s expensive over. Tye adds another wicket to his tally, sending Lewis back in the dugout. Tye also beat Kishan, who walked in at number 3, with the ball zipping past his outside edge.

Andrew Tye is the highest wicket-taker in the ongoing in IPL with 21 wickets and he has broken the opening stand for KXIP at the right time.

One left-hander replaces another. He has had a mixed IPL. Lets see if he can fire tonight. Looks all at sea against Tye though.

Tye comes in and delivers and that too on the very first ball. However the bigger worry for Punjab should be the in-form Suryakumar Yadav. He is making Ashwin do many field changes at the moment.

OUT! Knocked’em over! What a start first-up. The magical knuckleball from Tye has outsmarted many batsmen around the world and Lewis is the latest one to fall.  The ball sneaks in between the gap of bat and pad as Lewis looked to go downtown. First breakthrough for KXIP.

Lewis b Andrew Tye 9(7)

Here is the purple cap holder, Andrew Tye.

After 3 overs,Mumbai Indians 37/0 ( Suryakumar Yadav 26 , Evin Lewis 9)

Fantastic over for MI. Surya runs into Rajpoot with some luck helping him for the six that went over the fine leg,  but the other shots were simply dazzling. Big 21-run over.

Excellent batting from Surya. He played with Rajput’s fields there. They had a widish slip to stop a dab through third man but Surya pulled him past square leg. They got slip to short third and he hit over that man, before dabbing a four through vacant slip region. Wonderful cricket. Meanwhile, Tye has sent back Evin Lewis.

FOUR! Surya is simply toying with the bowler now! Yadav was very clever. Just used the pace off the bowler, angled the bat to run it fine to third man fence.

SIX! What a shot! Rajpoot is forced to bowl length and Surya was ready. Planted his foot and swung the bat through the line, striking it over the long off boundary.

SIX! Rajpoot keeps it short and Yadav goes for the pull, the ball rose just over his midriff, though it took the top edge the ball sailed over the shortish fine leg boundary. Only 59m.

FOUR! Rajpoot bangs it in short, but Suryakumar was always ready to play the pull. Superb execution by getting on top off the ball from the Mumbai opener.

After 2 overs,Mumbai Indians 16/0 ( Suryakumar Yadav 6 , Evin Lewis 8)

Lewis gets off the strike with a leg bye as he failed to play the pull. Good start for Sharma who holds it back of a length, giving away just two runs off the first ball until Lewis goes big. Lewis mishit the pull on the final ball but gets a single to keep strike for the next over.

Most wickets against MI in IPL:

27 – Dwayne Bravo

23 – Piyush Chawla 

22 – Mohit Sharma*

Lewis was itching to cut loose. He had already tried to drive twice, but had found mid off. This was exactly the length he was looking for.

SIX! Not in control. Neither from the middle. However, the power generate from Lewis’ arms is enough for the ball to sail over the small boundary at Wankhede.

Mohit Sharma begins from the pavilion end.

After 1 overs,Mumbai Indians 7/0 ( Suryakumar Yadav 5 , Evin Lewis 1)

Rajpoot starts from the pressbox end. Suryakumar Yadav gets off the mark straightaway.Lewis gets going with a single to point. No real swing on offer for Rajpoot though he is keeping the seam upright, the fourth ball did move a touch, but nothing that would possess a threat for the batters. After the boundary, Rajpoot completes the over with two dots.

FOUR! Suryakarmar Yadav goes for an expansive drive and with the ball moving just a hint away, it takes the edge and the ball flies through vacant second slip region for the first boundary.

Suryakumar Yadav holds the record of scoring most runs by an uncapped Indian player in a single season of IPL. (474 from 12 matches)

The in form opening pair of Suryakumar Yadav and Evin Lewis saunter out and mark their guards and looks like Ankit Rajpoot will start for KXIP as he tries out his run up.

So two veterans are back in their respective sides. Pollard and Yuvraj. And what a stage to make an entry.  This match is equally important to both the sides and it would be interesting to see how Yuvi and Pollard go about in today’s match.

MI have a 3-4 record against KXIP at Wankhede in IPL.

Kings XI Punjab: KL Rahul(w), Chris Gayle, Aaron Finch, Yuvraj Singh, Manoj Tiwary, Marcus Stoinis, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin(c), Andrew Tye, Mohit Sharma, Ankit Rajpoot

Mumbai Indians: Suryakumar Yadav, Evin Lewis, Rohit Sharma(c), Ishan Kishan(w), Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Ben Cutting, Mitchell McClenaghan, Mayank Markande, Jasprit Bumrah

MI v KXIP in IPL:

Matches played – 21

MI won – 11

KXIP won – 10

Yuvraj Singh and Manoj Tiwary come in the playing XI and it is Karun Nair and Mayank Agarwal who miss out. Mujeeb Ur Rahman is still not fit.

Kieron Pollard is back for the Mumbai Indians. JP Duminy makes way.

“Entire unit needs to come together,” chirps Rohit Sharma after losing the toss.

Toss update: Ravichandran Ashwin wins the battle of the coin toss and he has decided to field first at the Wankhede.

Mumbai Indians are warming up nicely for this must-win game. Bumrah, Hardik Pandya and Mitchell McCleneghan are going through the paces, but it’s Bumrah who is hitting the single wicket most often. He will have to be at his best against KL Rahul and Chris Gayle tonight.

Yuvraj Singh is taking part in the fielding drills. Besides only 11 players are doing the warm up sessions. What do we make of this?

Barinder Sran is bowling in the pre-match warm up session. It seems he will play today considering how KXIP bowlers fared in the last match. Also, Rohit Sharma is culpable against left arm fast bowling. By the look of it it seems Sran is playing today

Mumbai Indians face off-colour Kings XI Punjab in must-win game as battle for playoffs spots heats up

Read the preview here

Our correspondents Shantanu and Shubham preview all-important clash between Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab from the Wankhede Stadium as the race of playoffs begin to get tighter.

Hello and welcome to Firstpost’s coverage of the 50th match of IPL 2018, which will be palyed between Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab.