Highlights IPL 2021, MI vs PBKS Full Cricket Score: Mumbai win by six wickets

Winning captain Rohit Sharma: “We do agree that we didn’t play to our potential, but it’s a long tournament and we need to stick to our plans and reading the situations is very important and we can take a lot of confidence from that. Important not to lose the guard.”

“The way he (Pandya) understood the situation was very crucial from a team’s perspective, it’s important for him to spend the time in the middle as he’s coming back from a injury. It’s a tough call and he seems very confident and the reply you get from him was very boosting as well. Saurabh has played the perfect role today and he’s done well to nudge around in the middle overs.”

“We are gonna back him as he’s a very important player for us. The ball was coming off when we started off and the grass is coming off the surface in the middle overs and we need to adjust to the conditions.”

“He (Kieron Pollard) is one of our key players. Crucuial part of MI for so many years. He will be happy with taking the ‘Man of the Match’ for his bowling performance.”

Losing captain KL Rahul: “Good fight from the bowlers, but we didn’t score enough. This was the best deck we have played on. We should’ve got 170.”

“The next three games will be really interesting for us. We haven’t been able to handle the pressure over the tournament.”

“Take it one game at a time will be the chat. We will also try to enjoy the games and not worry about the results. All the UAE games for us have gone to the wire.”

After 19 overs,Mumbai Indians 137/4 ( Hardik Pandya 40 , Kieron Pollard 15)

Mohammed Shami to bowl the penultimate over. Will we even need a final over? First ball, single to switch strike. Lots of rotation in the field with Pandya in to bat. Short, wide and Pandya goes across but doesn’t connect. He does on the next one. Finally Pandya gets his bat to a Shami short ball and this one is upper cut away for a four towards third man. On the next, another short one, Pandya flat bats it to collect two more with Pooran saving two. Fifth ball, Hooda with a desperate dive but he’s unable to cut it across and Mumbai have the finish line in sights. Mumbai Indians have won it! Deepak Hooda lets the ball go between his fingers and the catch chances goes begging. KL Rahul can’t believe it. Mumbai Indians don’t mind who have won their first game of the second leg of this IPL. Mumbai Indians win by six wickets

MUMBAI INDIANS WIN!

SIX! And Mumbai Indians have won it. Hardik Pandya goes towards the same region, unable to keep it down this time. Great chance for Deepak Hooda to take it and force a nervous finish. It lets slip between his hands and Mumbai Indians have beaten Punjab Kings by 6 wickets.

Four more for Hardik Pandya. The game is well and truly in Mumbai’s hands now. Short once again, into the body but Pandya gets out of the way enough to hit it for a four. Desperate dive not cutting it for Punjab

Short and finally Pandya gets his bat on to the Mohammed Shami short delivery. Upper-cut it over the in-field for a four towards third man

After 18 overs,Mumbai Indians 120/4 ( Hardik Pandya 24 , Kieron Pollard 14)

Arshdeep Singh in for his final over. Pandya is ready to atatck and the body position is set up for a big hit. Arshdeep doesn’t offer anything on the first two balls. Exceptional bowling with two yorkers that move away from the right-hander. A single on the third ball brings Kieron Pollard into bat. This time Arshdeep goes down the leg stump and it is called a wide. KL Rahul is not happy with the call. It was close to the leg stump which probably annoyed KL Rahul. Next ball, Pollard crunches a four through the cover region and then a CRACKING 89-metre six over long off. One run to finish the over off, 13 from it. Mumbai Indians need 16 runs from 12 balls

Shuffling of the field from PBKS and more fielders move into the off side region but this time Pollard goes towards long off and increases the returns. Fantastic hit and what a time to get it

Low and there’s not much on it for the batter but Kieron Pollard creates his own power. Directs the ball into the gap and it runs for a four

After 17 overs,Mumbai Indians 107/4 ( Hardik Pandya 23 , Kieron Pollard 3)

Mohammed Shami is into the attack again. And he starts off with a peach of a delivery. Short, zips along and pings Pandya on the chest. Catches Hardik by surprise but thankfully no harm done. Next ball, Pandya swipes towards mid-wicket for a four and then a 97m six. Ninety seven. Shami roars back on the next two deliveries with some serious pace as Pandya looks to slash it but misses both times. Single from the final ball and 11 runs from the over. Mumbai Indians need 29 runs from 18 balls

Now Shami with a length delivery and Pandya picks it quickly. Flicks it and it goes soaring into the stands for a 97m six. 97 metres for a flick! Pandya finally getting a move on

100 up for Mumbai Indians with Hardik Pandya pulling a short Mohammed Shami delivery for a four. Touch too short and Pandya capitalises

After 16 overs,Mumbai Indians 96/4 ( Hardik Pandya 12 , Kieron Pollard 3)

Nathan Ellis is introduced into the attack by KL Rahul and immediately pays dividens. Takes the pace away, Tiwary looks to play at the delivery outside off-stump and the thick edge carries to a diving KL Rahul. With 44 needed from 29 balls, a timeout is called. Anyone’s game at this stage. Kieron Pollard joins Hardik Pandya in the middle. Starts off with a double. Pollard and Pandya with a single each more. Fantastic over from Ellis: 4 runs and a wicket. Equation: Mumbai Indians need 40 runs from 24 balls

OUT!

Brilliant captaincy from KL Rahul to keep the bowlers rotating and Nathan Ellis strikes. He’s got the danger man in Saurabh Tiwary who decides to walk. Umpires ask him to hang back as they check whether it carried safely. Slower one, well outside off, Tiwary looks to play it down towards third man but gets the edge. KL Rahul jumps forward and gets his gloves underneath the ball for a safe take

Tiwary c KL Rahul b Ellis 45 (37), MI are 92/4

After 15 overs,Mumbai Indians 92/3 ( Saurabh Tiwary 45 , Hardik Pandya 11)

Ravi Bishnoi in to bowl his final over. After collection of dots, Pandya nods at Tiwary to maybe up the tempo. First ball, he tries and misses. Next ball, it has travelled the distance for a six. First boundary after 16 balls. Third six for Tiwary tonight. 8 runs from the over. Mumbai Indians need 44 runs from 30 balls

WHAT A SHOT! 494th six of the 2021 IPL and it was in the slot for Saurabh Tiwary to take it. Goes down on one leg and slog sweeps it for a maximum.

After 14 overs,Mumbai Indians 84/3 ( Saurabh Tiwary 38 , Hardik Pandya 10)

Arshdeep Singh is in the attack. Second ball, he rolls his fingers over the ball and Pandya slices it. Harpreet Brar jumps, gets his hands to it but it gets out of his grasp. How crucial will that be? Pandya with a little smile – he knows he’s been handed a huge lifeline. Now can MI make it count? On the fifth ball, a low full toss for Tiwary and he hits it straight down the ground. Arshdeep gets a hand but only deflects it further along while taking the umpire out. Six singles, six runs from the over.

After 13 overs,Mumbai Indians 78/3 ( Saurabh Tiwary 35 , Hardik Pandya 7)

Nathan Ellis returns. Just the three runs from it and it adds to the pressure on Mumbai Indians. The required rate still doable but it could very collect with more such over

After 12 overs,Mumbai Indians 75/3 ( Saurabh Tiwary 33 , Hardik Pandya 6)

Arshdeep Singh is in the attack for his second over. On the second he almost gets his first wicket. Searing pace and Tiwary gets a thick inside edge which evades the stumps and runs to fine leg for a double. On the fourth ball, a bit of an unfortunate incident. Arshdeep has the ball hit straight back at him, he throws the ball back at Tiwary for an attempted run out but Saurabh is caught on the “box”. No harm, no foul as both players share a laugh. Does give everyone some time to catch a breather. After the break, Arshdeep with a gift of a delivery to allow Tiwary to hit a four through the mid-off and extra cover region. 7 runs from the over

Low full toss for Tiwary and he puts his bodyweight into it for a boundary through the covers. Simple runs for Mumbai

After 11 overs,Mumbai Indians 68/3 ( Saurabh Tiwary 26 , Hardik Pandya 6)

Six runs from the third Ravi Bishnoi over. His figures now read 3-0-17-2 after being struck for a four and couple more singles to finish the over out.

Ravi Bishnoi continues. Lucky for Hardik Pandya to get his first boundary. An inside edge flies past the keeper and runs away to the boundary

After 10 overs,Mumbai Indians 62/3 ( Saurabh Tiwary 25 , Hardik Pandya 1)

Mohammed Shami is in to bowl his second over. Fourth ball, he bowls a slower one and Quinton de Kock punches it for a confident boundary. On the next, Shami with a fantastic comeback to get the ball to angle away and helped by the inside edge, it removes the MI opener. The partnership is broken and once again, there is a breakthrough right after the timeout. Hardik Pandya is the new man in

OUT!

No slowing down on this one. It was seaming away from Quinton de Kock but he gets a massive inside edge on to the stumps. De Kock can’t believe that shot. Many inside the MI camp would be equally surprised.

De Kock b Shami 27 (29), MI are 61/3

On the backfoot, De Kock reads the slower-ish one from Shami and stands up to pull it for a comfortable four. That was confident stuff from Quinton

After 9 overs,Mumbai Indians 54/2 ( Quinton de Kock (W) 22 , Saurabh Tiwary 23)

Finally a good over for Mumbai Indians. Harpreet Brar bears the brunt of Saurabh Tiwary’s big hitting. 11 runs from the over with a meaty six in the middle. And that’s a good moment to take a strategic timeout. Mumbai Indians have moved along to 54/2 from 9 overs after those quick setbacks. They still need 82 runs from 66 balls

Tiwary jumps down the track and sends the ball 94 metres! NINETY FOUR METRES! What a shot. Clean strike and it goes towards mid-wicket region where no one could do anything but fetch the ball back. It brings up the 50 runs for Mumbai Indians

After 8 overs,Mumbai Indians 43/2 ( Quinton de Kock (W) 21 , Saurabh Tiwary 13)

Ravi Bishnoi is back into the field and into the attack as well. A double from the first ball and a couple of singles more along the way. On the last ball, De Kock gets a four with Aiden Markram looking to take a diving catch but seeing the ball get away from his grasp. 8 runs from the over

Shouts of ‘catch it’ as Quinton de Kock goes over the top. Aiden Markram has to decide whether to go for the catch or play it safe. He goes for it, it gets away from his grasp and the ball runs along to the boundary rope.

After 7 overs,Mumbai Indians 35/2 ( Quinton de Kock (W) 14 , Saurabh Tiwary 12)

Markram back into the attack. Second ball, there is a bit of confusion between De Kock and Tiwary. De Kock caught ball-watching and he’s slow to make the non-striker’s end. But safe in the end. More singles tick along for five runs from the over. By the way, Ravi Bishnoi is off the field after hurting his finger while fielding

After 6 overs,Mumbai Indians 30/2 ( Quinton de Kock (W) 11 , Saurabh Tiwary 10)

Nathan Ellis into the attack to round off the powerplay overs. He goes for a boundary and a single to make it five runs from the over. After the powerplay overs, MI are 30/2

Poor delivery from Ellis. Outside the leg stump, and Tiwary plays it off the pads with the fine leg fielder inside the circle. That’s a gift

Fair shout from Viru!

Ravi Bishnoi is special. Extra special #MIvPBKS

— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) September 28, 2021

After 5 overs,Mumbai Indians 25/2 ( Quinton de Kock (W) 10 , Saurabh Tiwary 6)

Aiden Markram is back into the attack. Goes for 3 singles from the first five balls before being smacked for a four by Saurabh Tiwary. That will alleviate some of the pressure on the Mumbai Indians batters. First boundary in 20 balls for Mumbai

After singles aplenty from the Aiden Markram over, Tiwary gives himself room, backs away and crunches it through cover-point for four

After 4 overs,Mumbai Indians 18/2 ( Quinton de Kock (W) 8 , Saurabh Tiwary 1)

Spin! Ravi Bishnoi into the attack for Punjab Kings. First ball, he gets Quinton de Kock to play at it, but beats the outside edge. Slight chuckle from Bishnoi having taken a tumble after completing the follow through. Second ball, single. Next ball, Bishnoi has Rohit Sharma walking with the pressure telling. On the next, Suryakumar Yadav fails to read the googly and is gone for a duck. Saurabh Tiwary denies a hat-trick and that’s 3 from the Bishnoi over. Two big wickets and great start for PBKS

Hat-trick chance for Ravi Bishnoi…

…. Saurabh Tiwary is the new man in. And he gets an outside edge but it doesn’t go aerial and doesn’t fall to anyone. Single for Tiwary

OUT!

Two in a row! TWO IN A ROW FOR RAVI BISHNOI! Suryakumar Yadav plays for the spin and it maintains its line. Completely beaten and the ball breaches the gap between bat and pad. HUGE GAP between bat and pad. Golden duck for SKY.

Yadav b Bishnoi 0 (1), MI are 16/2

OUT!

Important breakthrough fro Punjab Kings. Ravi Bishnoi makes the most of the pressure and Rohit Sharma is gone. He looks to unleash but doesn’t get the desired contact. Simple take for Mandeep at mid-on

Rohit c Mandeep b Bishnoi 8 (10), MI are 16/1

After 3 overs,Mumbai Indians 15/0 ( Rohit Sharma (C) 8 , Quinton de Kock (W) 6)

Arshdeep into the attack for Punjab Kings. Quinton de Kock punches it through the covers to collect a couple of runs on the second ball. Great bowling from Arshdeep to stifle Quinton de Kock. Not allowing any room to the leftie to play it into the off-side. A single from the last ball to retain strike. 3 runs from the over

After 2 overs,Mumbai Indians 12/0 ( Rohit Sharma (C) 8 , Quinton de Kock (W) 3)

Mohammed Shami is on from the other end. On the second ball, PBKS with a big shout. There was a sound and it appeared that the ball had taken a slight edge on the way to KL Rahul. Umpire says no and Punjab opt against reviewing. On the third ball, Rohit with the first boundary of the innings and a couple to finish the over. Six runs from it.

First four of the chase comes from Rohit Sharma’s bat. Elegant from Rohit Sharma to open the face of the bat for a square-drive. Beats the fielder at point and the desperate run from the fielder in the deep

After 1 overs,Mumbai Indians 6/0 ( Rohit Sharma (C) 2 , Quinton de Kock (W) 3)

First ball to Rohit Sharma and he’s off the mark. On the third ball, so does Quinton de Kock –  opens the face of the bat and collects a quick double. Two more singles from De Kock and Rohit apiece from the over and six come from it.

MI begin chase

Mumbai Indians opening pair of Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock walk out for the 136 run chase. Punjab Kings are in a huddle and this will need a resolute bowling effort to keep MI from winning. Off spinner Aiden Markram has the ball. Meanwhile, it has emerged the last two games in the league stage will be played simultaneously at 7.30 PM IST

After 20 overs,Punjab Kings 135/6 ( Harpreet Brar 14 , Nathan Ellis 6)

MI restrict PBKS TO 135/6! Coulter-Nile finished with brilliant figures of 4-0-19-0. Again a good mix of slower and faster balls. He bowled them very full as well.  Ellis jams one wide of long off for a couple. And then another to long on for another two to end the over. Four more singles make it 8 off the over.

Coulter-Nile will bowl the final over….

After 19 overs,Punjab Kings 127/6 ( Harpreet Brar 12 , Nathan Ellis 0)

Brilliant over from Bumrah. A couple of short and fast deliveries outside off to start off from him. Brar swings and misses and then looks to guide them to third man but misses. Brar again misses another swing off a good length ball, they run through for a risky bye. Hooda then succumbs to pressure as he holes out to long off. Brar then goes for another swing, but gets a top edge high in the air, Suryakumar Yadav charges in from deep mid-wicket and Bumrah too looks to converge but a diving Surya doesn’t manage to hold on to the catch. Brar again doesn’t connect his heave off the middle off last ball and gets just two runs. 23 balls since the last boundary. 5 runs and a wicket off the over.

OUT! Good pressure built from MI! Bumrah gets Hooda. Full outside off, Hooda looks to loft it over long off, doesn’t get it off the middle and Pollard at long off makes no mistake.

Bumrah to bowl the penultimate over.

After 18 overs,Punjab Kings 122/5 ( Deepak Hooda 28 , Harpreet Brar 8)

A brilliant over from Coulter-Nile. Good variety. Change of pace, yorker, slower one, short ball, the batsmen find it difficult to put them away. Just four runs off the 18th over. Great stuff.

Coulter-Nile back on…

After 17 overs,Punjab Kings 118/5 ( Deepak Hooda 26 , Harpreet Brar 7)

Bumrah continues the good work. After a couple of singles off the first two balls, Brar looks to steer one to third man but is beaten by the away movement. Bumrah then drifts onto Brar’s pads who flicks it through mid-wicket for a couple. Brar then drives an overpitched delivery on off through extra cover for another two. The last one is a short one, Brar looks to upper cut but misses. 6 runs off the over.

After 16 overs,Punjab Kings 112/5 ( Deepak Hooda 26 , Harpreet Brar 2)

Chahar bounced back well in that over. He gives away a four off the first ball but then comes back to remove Markram off the next. The last four balls yield just three singles. 7 runs and a wicket off the over.

FOUR AND OUT! Markram gets the first one right, gets down and swipes it wide of short fine leg for four. He again tries to sweep the next ball, Chahar drifts it on the off stump and it spins away a little, it is flighted and full. Markram misses his slog sweep and it hits the timber.

After 15 overs,Punjab Kings 105/4 ( Aiden Markram 38 , Deepak Hooda 25)

An eventful over. Boult didn’t get his lines and lengths right in that over. He overpitched one and gave away a four and then bowled one short and wide which was again slashed away for four by Hooda. Markram placed a couple well, one for four and one for a couple, both through the backward point area. It was as much about bad bowling as good strokeplay in that over.  Hooda smashes the last ball straight back but Boult doesn’t manage to hold on to a difficult catch. 15 off the over.

FOUR! Poor delivery from Boult. Short and wide outside off, Hooda slashes it over backward point.

FOURS! A bit of a pressure release. Overpitched outside off, slightly slower from Boult, Markram thumps it through extra cover. Markram then stays still and cracks a good length delivery outside off through backward point for back to back fours.

Boult back on….

After 14 overs,Punjab Kings 90/4 ( Aiden Markram 29 , Deepak Hooda 19)

Still no boundary. Markram laps one to fine leg for a couple. And after a couple of singles, Markram looks to go big, over extra cover but ends up slicing it over backward point for a couple. A dot follows and then Markram drives the last one to deep cover for just a single. Chahar flighted the ball well in that over and got a hint of turn. 7 off the over.

Chahar continues….

After 13 overs,Punjab Kings 83/4 ( Aiden Markram 23 , Deepak Hooda 18)

The PBKS batsmen are still dealing in singles and two. They are backing themselves to go big at the death. Hooda starts off with a couple of twos off the first two balls. And then there are four singles. 8 off the over. Krunal gave the ball some air and didn’t change his pace much.

Krunal back on…

After 12 overs,Punjab Kings 75/4 ( Aiden Markram 21 , Deepak Hooda 12)

A good over from Chahar. He concentrated on flighting the ball. The batsmen didn’t go for aggressive shots and were content with taking singles. 6 of them in the over.

Chahar back on.

After 11 overs,Punjab Kings 69/4 ( Aiden Markram 18 , Deepak Hooda 9)

Another over where an MI bowler bounces back well. Boult gives away just one off the first three balls. But then he goes short, Hooda hammers it for a six over deep mid-wicket. Boult bounces back strong and bowls another couple of dots to make sure he gives away just 7 off the over.

SIX! First six of the innings comes in the 11th over. Short outside off, from Boult, Hooda smashes the pull over deep mid-wicket.

Boult back into the attack …

After 10 overs,Punjab Kings 62/4 ( Aiden Markram 17 , Deepak Hooda 3)

A good comeback in that over from Coulter-Nile. He overpitched the first one and was hit for four. He then pulled his length back a bit, bowled full and short off most deliveries and gave away just one single off the next five balls. 5 runs off the over.

FOUR! He’s been driving really well. It’s in the slot outside off, from Coulter-Nile, Markram caresses it through extra cover.

After 9 overs,Punjab Kings 57/4 ( Aiden Markram 12 , Deepak Hooda 3)

A decent start from Chahar. He bounced back well after conceding a boundary off the second ball. Gave away just three off the last four balls. There were three dots, a single and a two in that over apart from the four. 7 off it.

FOUR! Good placement. It’s full outside off, tossed up, from Chahar, Markram comes forward and drives it through cover.

Rahul Chahar into the attack now…

After 8 overs,Punjab Kings 50/4 ( Aiden Markram 7 , Deepak Hooda 1)

A successful over for MI. Bumrah concentrated on bowling full to start off, in that over. After a couple of singles, he traps Pooran LBW off a low full toss. He then bowls a snorter first up to Hooda who fends it away awkwardly to the off side. Hooda then flicks one to deep mid-wicket for a single to get off the mark. Markram then pushes another short one to the off side for a quick single. There is a run out appeal but the third umpire gives it not out as Hooda has made it in easily. 4 runs and a wicket off it.

OUT! PBKS in some trouble now! Pooran departs! Bumrah goes for a yorker. It’s a low full toss on the leg stump. Pooran looks to flick but misses. The umpire lifts the finger on the appeal. Pooran opts for a review but replays show three reds as it would have hit middle and leg.

Bumrah back on…

After 7 overs,Punjab Kings 46/3 ( Aiden Markram 5 , Nicholas Pooran 1)

What an introduction for Pollard. A very good over to start off. Those slower cutters did the trick as he scalped two wickets in the over. There are three singles and a wide but then Pollard drifts one on to middle and leg, Markram flicks it away for four. 8 runs and two wickets off the over.

FOUR! Nicely timed! On middle and leg from Pollard, Markram flicks it wide of short fine leg. It runs away to the fence.

OUT! Pollard strikes for the second time in the over. It’s the short ball on middle. That cutter again, Rahul goes for the pull but is late onto the shot. He gets a top edge and it pops into the hands of Bumrah at short fine leg.

OUT! Pollard gets the BIG wicket! Good length delivery outside off, Gayle stays in his crease and looks to go downtown but doesn’t connect it well and mistimes it straight into the hands of Hardik Pandya. The slower one did the trick there.

Kieron Pollard into the attack…

After 6 overs,Punjab Kings 38/1 ( KL Rahul (C) (W) 20 , Chris Gayle 1)

Another very good over from Krunal. Rahul clipped one wide of mid on for a single. Krunal then got the wicket of Mandeep off the next ball. Gayle plays out one dot before flicking one to mid-wicket for a single. Rahul takes a single to long on. There is a bit of drama off the last ball as Gayle thumps it straight back, Rahul looks to get out of the way but it still hits him and ricochets to Krunal, Rahul is out of balance and out of the crease, Krunal flicks it onto the stumps. They appeal but then Krunal withdraws the appeal. Rahul was well outside the crease. Rahul gives a thumbs up to Rohit for the sportsman spirit. 3 runs and a wicket off the over.

Chris Gayle is the new batsman….

OUT! Krunal gets the first breakthrough! Length delivery outside off, goes straight on with the arm. Mandeep gets down and across a long way and looks to swing it behind square leg but misses. It hits his pads and they all go up in a huge appeal, the umpire lifts the finger. Mandeep, after a long chat with Rahul, opts against taking the review.

Krunal continues….

After 5 overs,Punjab Kings 35/0 ( KL Rahul (C) (W) 18 , Mandeep Singh 15)

A good over from Coulter-Nile. He changed his pace well and concentrated on bowling back of a length. The batsmen didn’t get their pull shots off the middle. Mandeep pulled a slower one and didn’t connect it off the middle, it fell short of the charging mid-wicket fielder. Rahul pulls the past one off the middle, finally, but gets just a single to deep square leg. Just 3 runs off the over.

Coulter-Nile into the attack now…

After 4 overs,Punjab Kings 32/0 ( KL Rahul (C) (W) 16 , Mandeep Singh 14)

Good battle in that over. Bumrah entices Rahul into the drive off the first ball, dangles the carrot outside off, it swings away a shade. Rahul doesn’t fiddle with it. He follows it up with a lovely extra cover drive for a four. Rahul then leaves the wide one alone. Bumrah goes short after that, Rahul pulls them for a two and a single behind square leg. He again goes short to Mandeep, he goes for the pull but ends up getting a top edge over the keeper for a streaky four. Another good over for PBKS, 11 off it.

FOUR! Streaky! Short from Bumrah, Mandeep goes for the pull but gets a top edge over the keeper.

Bumrah into the attack now…

After 3 overs,Punjab Kings 21/0 ( KL Rahul (C) (W) 9 , Mandeep Singh 10)

Good over for PBKS. Krunal didn’t quite get his lengths right. Was not disciplined and bowled a No ball along with two full tosses. After a couple of singles, Krunal gets away with a poor delivery. He had already overstepped and slipped in a faster one outside off, it’s a full toss and Mandeep reached out to hit it straight to cover. The Free hit delivery is hit straight to covers. A couple of singles follow and then Krunal bowls a low full toss, Mandeep drives it through covers for four. 9 off the over.

FOUR! Poor delivery! Low full toss outside off from Krunal, Mandeep drives it through covers.

After 2 overs,Punjab Kings 12/0 ( KL Rahul (C) (W) 7 , Mandeep Singh 4)

Boult didn’t quite get his lines right to start off, he bowled a bouncer down the leg side for a WIDE! Then there were a couple of the pads which were flicked away for a couple of singles. He then got one right, on middle and Rahul defended. But the next one was nicely driven for a four. Boult then corrected his line from outside off to stumps and it is defended into the ground. 8 runs off the over.

FOUR! Nicely timed! Length delivery outside off, from Boult. Rahul comes forward and drives it through point.

Boult will bowl from the other end….

After 1 overs,Punjab Kings 4/0 ( KL Rahul (C) (W) 2 , Mandeep Singh 2)

A good start from Krunal. The first couple of balls were on the stumps, Rahul and Mandeep both tucked them to mid-wicket to get off the mark with a single. Rahul then looked to give himself room, but Krunal cleverly followed him with a faster one, it swings in as well, Rahul is forced to defend. A flighted delivery follows which is defended. There is a faster one next Rahul pushes it to the leg side for a single. Rahul tucks the last one for a single to make it 4 runs off the over.

For the first time this season, a spinner is opening the bowling. A bit of shift in plan for Rohit Sharma and Co…

Right! The PBKS openers – KL Rahul and Mandeep Singh are out in the middle. Krunal Pandya will start off proceedings…

PBKS XI: KL Rahul, Mandeep Singh, Chris Gayle, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran, Deepak Hooda, Harpreet Brar, Nathan Ellis, Mohammed Shami, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh

MI XI: Rohit Sharma, Quinton de Kock, Suryakumar Yadav, Saurabh Tiwary, Krunal Pandya, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Rahul Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult

PBKS Changes: Just one change, Mayank Agarwal has a stiff neck so Mandeep Singh comes in.

MI Changes: Saurabh Tiwary, Coulter-Nile come in for Ishan Kishan and Adam Milne

TOSS – Rohit Sharma has won the toss and MI will bowl first. Rohit says that it’s a team plan to bowl first and that the wicket is looking good for batting.

Table watch

Mumbai Indians have dropped to seventh in the table after being unable to find wins since the season restarted in UAE. Punjab Kings, their opponents tonight, are fifth and tied with KKR on points. And it looks increasingly like KKR are headed to 10 points with just 9 runs needed to beat DC in today’s first clash.

Stat watch

In contests between MI and PBKS, former Punjab batter Shaun Marsh has scored the most runs followed by Kieron Pollard and Rohit Sharma. Among the bowlers, former Mumbai seamer Lasith Malinga has been the most lethal with Jasprit Bumrah second and Harbhajan Singh third.

Head-to-head

The head-to-head record between Mumbai and Punjab is almost even. They’ve played 27 matches, 14 have gone Mumbai’s way and 13 have been won by Punjab. In their last five meetings, Punjab Kings won two and Mumbai won two. The fifth went into a one-over eliminator where Punjab triumphed.

Mumbai Indians’ director of cricket operations, Zaheer Khan feels the failure of the team’s middle-order in its last three IPLmatches has put a lot of pressure on the defending champions.

“I think the wicket was just fine, you can make out from how the team batting first went and how we started. I think it is just the form-based situation for us, you know the middle-order has not really fired for us in these last three games and that has put a lot of pressure,” Zaheer said.

Ishan Kishan gets the backing of his captain: Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma wants to back his out-of-form teammate Ishan Kishan and doesn’t want to put too much pressure on the talent youngster who has scored just 100 plus runs in nine games in IPL 2021.

“He is a talented player (Ishan Kishan). He’s had a terrific IPL last year. We want to back his natural game which is why he came up the order above Surya. I don’t want to put too much pressure on the guy. He is relatively young, making his way in international cricket,” the MI skipper said after his team slumped to its third straight defeat post resumption," Sharma said.

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Mumbai’s middle order concerns: It’s that time of the year where desperation creeps in. Mumbai Indians are languishing second from the bottom and they need to go all out and win every match from here on. Those lack of middle-order runs are hurting them. Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Kieron Pollard and Krunal Pandya haven’t quite delivered in the second leg so far. Pollard has had scores of 7, 21 and 15 from three innings.  Suryakumar Yadav has averaged just 18.90 overall, Krunal 13.44 and Ishan Kishan – 13.37. Their middle-order needs to contribute big time.

After three defeats in three matches in the second leg, MI would be desperately searching for a win against PBKS. Punjab, on the other hand, had a close win over SRH in their last match. They have travelled a roller-coaster so far and would look to put on improved performance and amass crucial points on the table. With the competition heating up and both teams looking to get important points on the table, we can expect a cracker.

Hello and welcome to the coverage of the 42nd match of IPL 2021 between Mumbai Indians and Punjab Kings. Match starts at 7.30 PM IST with the toss taking place at 7 PM. Follow this space for live scores and updates.