Last Update on: September 28th, 2021 at 11:40 pm
Mumbai Indians (MI) break their 3-match losing streak with a 6-wicket win over Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.
Chasing 136, Mumbai got off to a worse start than Punjab: Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock couldn’t hit more than a solitary boundary in the first three overs; in the fourth over, Sharma (8 off 10) fell to the wizardry of Ravi Bishnoi, so did Suryakumar Yadav for a golden duck
Quinton de Kock (27 off 29) chopped a short-of-length Mohammed Shami delivery onto his stumps to end his scratchy stay. Saurabh Tiwary on the other end found back his mojo. He clattered 3 fours and 2 gigantic sixes in his 37-ball 45-run knock keeping the required run-rate under 9, before eventually being dismissed by Nathan Ellis.

Just when PBKS seemed to have things under control, Hardik Pandya smashed Shami for a six and a four in the 17th over. Kieron Pollard gave the same treatment to Arshdeep Singh in the 18th over to bring the required runs to 16 off 12 balls. Hardik smashed a couple of fours and a six off Shami to complete the chase in the 19th over and remain unbeaten on 40 off 30 balls.
Earlier, after being put in to bat first, Punjab Kings were given a composed start by KL Rahul and Mandeep Singh (15 off 14), before the latter was trapped lbw by Krunal Pandya in the 6th over.
Punjab finished the powerplay at 38/1 and began the fall of wickets. Kieron Pollard struck twice in the 7th over with the big wickets of Chris Gayle(1 off 4) and Rahul(21 off 22). Jasprit Bumrah had Nicholas Pooran(2 off 3) lbw with a dipping Yorker in the 8th over as MI took a stronghold over the proceedings.

Aiden Markram and Deepak Hooda then steadied the ship with a brilliant 61-run stand, which was broken when Markram (42 off 29) was castled by Rahul Chahar, before Hooda (28 off 26) holed out in the deep. PBKS batters couldn’t hit a single boundary in the last four overs of their innings as they barely managed to go over 130.
Twitter was abuzz as Mumbai Indians register their first win of the UAE leg of IPL 2021 as strengthen their claim for a playoff berth.
IPL 2021: Twitter Reacts As Mumbai Indians defeat Punjab Kings
#MI win. Pandya hits the winning runs. Should've been out twice but in the bigger picture, much-needed positive sign for Mumbai and Team India #IPL2021 .
— Ayan (@ayan_acharya13) September 28, 2021
Hardik, the batter, needed time in the middle. Had got very little game time with the bat this year. This could set MI rolling. #PBKSvsMI #IPL2021
— Arani Basu (@AraniBasuTOI) September 28, 2021
A champion comeback from a champion team #Mi. As a cricketer I see the hunger in a player! Really impressed with #RaviBishnoi #PlayerForTheFuture #PBKSvsMI #IPL2021
— Pragyan Ojha (@pragyanojha) September 28, 2021
Good win for #mi Heat is on points table.
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) September 28, 2021
Hardik Pandya is back in form, it's time for you to worry other teams!;-)#PBKSvsMI
— Avi :'( (@Avani_4321) September 28, 2021
Hardik takes MI home with furious assault on Shami but match closer than scoreboard reflects. Punjab put up stout defence of modest score. Top order failures still Mumbai’s worry
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) September 28, 2021
Hardik back in form is graet news for not just Mumbai but Indians.#MIvPBKS
— Venkatesh Prasad (@venkateshprasad) September 28, 2021
Hardik Pandya back among runs, coming back into the team, just in his second match and he scored unbeaten 40 runs from 30 balls including 4 fours and 2 sixes – great news for Indian team as well in the T20 World Cup.
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) September 28, 2021
#PBKSvsMI #IPL2021
Mumbai Indians need a win for comeback
Hardik Pandya after hitting 40 in 30 balls* pic.twitter.com/mPKcvJRvr2— Valdimiputin (@valdimiputin) September 28, 2021
Congratulations @mipaltan Brothers of destruction are back#MI#RohithSharma pic.twitter.com/ltqVKLUblI
— Shailendra Mishra (@imShail_3) September 28, 2021
Krunal Pandya couldn't bat. Must be shouting at himself for not giving away enough runs. #IPL
— Silly Point (@FarziCricketer) September 28, 2021
With the World Cup round the corner, you end up looking closely at the performances of the players in the squad. I am a worried man right now. I sincerely hope that it’ll change in the course of next three weeks. #IPL2021 #CricketTwitter
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) September 28, 2021
Also Read: IPL 2021: Last Two League Matches Between SRH,MI & RCB,DC To Be Played At The Same Time On October 8