I hope you enjoyed the coverage. I sure did. From Chris Gayle assault to Rahul's 100 to Pollard's brilliance and Joseph's calmess, this match had all the ingredients of a humdinger. Till Rajasthan Royals hosts Chennai Super Kings on Thursday, it is good night from Sportstar.
By the way, this is Mumbai Indians' highest successful run chase at home!
This needs time to sink in! It has been a masterclass chase, pure power hitting by Pollard and must laud Alzarri Joseph for having a cool and calm head. Pollard's wicket in the final over might have changed things if not for the no-ball and the free hit which flew into the stands.
Ankit Rajpoot and Kings XI are distraught. Kireon Pollard runs to Alzarri Joseph and they embrace in a hug!
Phew! It was Mumbai Indians which held its nerve, mainly because of a Kieron Pollard special and Alzarri Joseph keeping his cool in the end. What a humdinger of a match! I hope it has kept you at the edge of your seats. I was on the edge for sure.
19.6 Alzarri Joseph does it again! He is the hero for Mumbai Indians after Kieron Pollard put them on the brink of a win. A full toss by Rajput and Joseph drives it to long on and scampers for two. The Wankhede is in a trance and so is the Mumbai Indians dugout. What a finish by Mumbai.
2 runs off 1 ball. Alzarri Joseph on strike.
19.5 In the blockhole and just a single. Rahul Chahar can just send it to midwicket for one run.
Three off two balls.
19.4 One run taken by Joseph.
Four runs in three balls now.
19.3 Rajpoot bowls a dot ball. Alzarri Joseph sends it back to Rajpoot.
19.2 WICKET! Kieron Pollard departs. What an anti-climax. Wankhade is stunned. Pollard sends one down to deep midwicket and David Miller takes a good catch. Pollard is out for 83 off 31 balls, 3 fours and 10 sixes.
19.1 Free hit - Pollard hits a boundary. 4 runs needed off 5 balls now. Short ball on leg-stump and Pollard pounces on it and blasts it to the fine leg region.
8 runs in 6 balls now
19.1 Ankit Rajpoot bowls a no-ball. Pollard smacks it over the deep square leg for six.
It has come down to this — 15 runs in 6 balls. Ankit Rajpoot with the ball. This will be one of the biggest overs of his life.
(Target 198) MI 183/6 in 19 overs: Pollard is in no mood to relent. Sam Curran offers width and Pollard deals it expertly. He sends it on the bounce to the boundary. Next, a length ball goes into the stands over long-off and then one more flies into the top tier off a length ball. Curran's inexperience at the death is showing up. Pollard brings the equation to just 16 runs off 8 balls. He has put the match in Mumbai's grasp again.
(Target 198) MI 158/6 in 17 overs: 14 runs off Sam Curran's over. He first bowls in the slot and then follows it up with four good balls and finally gives away a full toss, just around the waits height and what does Pollard do? He deposits the ball in the crowds at square-leg region with a thank you. The shot gets him to 50 too. He is on 55 off 25 balls.
54 runs in 24 balls. Pollard in the middle. Where are we headed?
(Target 198) MI 140/6 in 15.4 overs: Twin strike from Mohd. Shami. It is Hardik's brother, Krunal, who bites the dust. He sends a slower one and Krunal Pandya just guides the ball to extra cover where David Miller was waiting. He takes another easy catch, he doesn't drop many, does he? Krunal departs for just 1. Mumbai in trouble.
(Target 198) MI 135/5 in 15.1 overs: Mohd. Shami strikes. Hardik Pandya is disappointed but he has to walk back. He puts in the slot, invites Pandya to play the big shot and the batsman obliges only to offer an easy catch to David Miller in the long-on fence. Hardik Pandya departs for 19 off 13 balls, Mumbai five-down.
(Target 198) MI 135/4 in 15 overs: An over without a boundary. Seems out of the ordinary. Just 7 runs off Hardus Viljoen over.
That brings the equation down to 70 off 36 balls.
(Target 198) MI 128/4 in 14 overs: Pollard is going great guns. 19 runs off Ravichandran Ashwin's over. Pandya starts the assault with a four over deep midwicket fence and then Pollard launches Ashwin in the orbit twice — once over the long-on fielder and then one down the ground, straight into the commentary box glass. It doesn't matter how Ashwin bowls, Pollard is taking on him. Both the balls were off breaks, in the slot and the mighty West Indian bludgeons them. Pollard is unbeaten on 40 off just 15 balls.
(Target 198) MI 109/4 in 13 overs: 15 runs off Hardus Viljoen, that included 5 wides off the first ball. The Ultra-Edge later picks up a spike. Mumbai riding on some luck. 89 runs in 42 balls is what Mumbai needs at this stage!
Hardik Pandya joins Kieron Pollard and suddenly 103 runs in 48 balls looks easy.
(Target 198) MI 94/4 in 12 overs: On my! After a great over for Mumbai, Sam Curran gets Punjab right back into it. He bowls a yorker length ball to Pollard on the leg stump and the batsman, cramped for room, just sends it to the left of Curran, who picks it up and has a shy at the stumps. Ishan Kishan was backing up too far and a dive cannot save him.
(Target 198) MI 94/3 in 11.5 overs: Kieron Pollard is sending Sam Curran to the cleaners. He gets on to the short ball and pulls Curran over deep sqaure leg for six. He then follows it up with a majestic drive past a diving mid-wicket fielder, who had no chance to stop the ball. Before you could bat an eyelid, the ball found the advertising boards. He then clobbers one down the ground for another six, 18 runs off 5 balls in the over.
(Target 198) MI 76/3 in 11 overs: Ishan Kishan and Kieron Pollard take 11 runs off Ashwin's over, with the six by Pollard just inches over a leaping David Miller at long-on. Mumbai needs 122 in 54 balls.
Ishan Kishan and Kieron Pollard have a job on hand. A steep mountain to climb for Mumbai.
(Target 198) MI 62/3 in 9 overs: Ravichandran Ashwin strikes. He removes the well-set Quinton de Kock for 24, with David Miller taking an acrobatic catch in the deep. Miller covered good ground and took a catch on the slide to send de Kock back. Mumbai wobbling.
(Target 198) MI 56/2 in 7.4 overs: Sam Curran removes Suryakumar Yadav. The batsman plays an uppish flick and the deep backward square leg fielder has minimum trouble in taking the catch. Mumbai needs 142 more runs to win in 74 balls.
(Target 198) MI 49/1 in 6 overs: End of powerplay and Mumbai has reached 49. More importantly, the Punjab fielders have dropped two catches, with K.L. Rahul grassing de Kock in the last ball of the powerplay. Mumbai needs 148 more in 84 balls.
(Target 198) MI 41/1 in 5 overs: A match to forget for Ankit Rajpoot. He leaks 12 runs in the over as Suryakumar Yadav is making merry. The batsman has hit the pacer for three boundaries in the over.
(Target 198) MI 28/1 in 3.4 overs: The debut is over. Siddesh Lad is castled by Mohd. Shami for 15. The batsman walks across, misses the yorker and Shami disturbs the timber, leg stump to be precise. Excellent bowling from the paceman. He bowled wicket to wicket and got his reward.
(Target 198) MI 28/0 in 3 overs: Lad and de Kock have making full use of the field restrictions. Rajpoot is the bowler who has suffered the most, leaking 25 runs in his 2 overs, that includes de Kock slamming two consecutive boundaries in the over.
(Target 198) MI 11/0 in 1 over: That's a debut to remember for Siddhesh Lad. Rajpoot strays on the pads and Lad just directs it to the fine leg for six. He then follows it up with a neat short at the backward square leg area for a four.
Quinton de Kock and Siddhesh Lad are in the middle. Ankit Rajpoot with the new ball.
This will be a mountain to climb for Mumbai Indians. We will take a small breather and get back to see what unfolds at the Wankhede.
KXIP 197/4 in 20 overs: What an innings from K.L Rahul. He has been top notch tonight. First ball of the last over, he sends Bumrah to the crowds beyond the deep midwicket fence and the takes a double to get to a well deserved 100. The landmark has come in 63 balls with 6 fours and 6 sixes. Mandeep Singh gives the finishing touch with a boundary, bisecting the short third man and the backward point fielder.
KXIP 184/4 in 19 overs: 25 runs off the Pandya over. 200 in sights for Punjab. Not a soul is making noise at the Wankhede. 6,4,6,6,1,2 off the over.
KXIP 181/4 in 18.4 overs: Meanwhile, Rahul is in no mood to relent. The first ball was a good length ball from Hardik Pandya and Rahul sends him for six over deep extra cover and then targets the same region for a boundary. The third soars over fine leg for six and the fourth finds the crowds over the long-off region. Classic batting from Rahul.
KXIP 151/4 in 17.3 overs: Sam Curran tries an unconventional scoop, off Bumrah. He only manages to sky the ball to Quinton de Kock. It was unnecessary, given the situation. He had already picked up two boundaries and looks to have been carried away by the momentum of runs.
KXIP 151/3 in 17.2 overs: Back-to-back boundaries for Sam Curran. First over the extra cover region and then the sweeper cover fielder has no chance to stop the ball.
KXIP 141/3 in 16.5 overs: Hardik Pandya strikes. Karun Nair departs for 5. Punjab loses its third, very quick. Sam Curran joins Rahul. Nair gets a top-edge and Rahul Chahar at fine leg takes a neat, simple catch.
KXIP 131/2 in 15 overs: David Miller just looked to be settling into the groove when he hit Hardik Pandya for a boundary in the over but gets an outside edge off the last ball to give away his wicket. With K.L. Rahul still in the middle, Punjab would aim a gargantuan score.
KXIP 116/1 in 12.5 overs: Chris Gayle is out! The humidity seems to be the cause. He was just down on his haunches and the next ball he clobbers it straight to the deep midwicket fielder. Any other time, that ball would have been among the crowds but not this time. Gayle is out for a well-made 63 off 36 balls (3x4, 7x6).
KXIP 116/0 in 12.4 overs: Rahul Chahar and Jason Behrendorff have managed to keep things a little quiet. Meanwhile, K.L. Rahul gets to his 50 too. Unfortunately for Punjab, Gayle is down here. The humidity seems to have taken a toll.
KXIP 103/0 in 11 overs: Chris Gayle unstoppable. Krunal Pandya bowls a back of the length ball and Gayle is ready for it. He sends it into the orbit, straight down the ground. Don't bother asking me where it landed. Somewhere on the top tier! He also brings up his 50, off just 31 balls, with that six. Krunal then conceeds a single and must be happy. He manages to keep Rahul quiet.
KXIP 93/0 in 10 overs: Just when I thought Rahul Chahar was bowling well, mixing it up well to keep Gayle quiet, he bowls a fuller one and Gayle smacks it over his head for six. Do I need to say it landed in the second tier?
KXIP 86/0 in 9 overs: Chris Gayle takes Hardik Pandya to the cleaners. 17 runs off the over. Second ball of the over, Pandya bowls a bumper and Gayle directs it to the second tier at deep backward square leg. Third ball, a fuller one and Gayle just rockets it to the ropes behind the bowler. Fourth ball, he creams it on the on-side, just wide off the long-on fielder, for another four.
KXIP 69/0 in 8 overs: After the powerplay, the runs have dried up a little. Rahul Chahar just conceeds the one boundary to Rahul, who is looking in great touch.
KXIP
57/0 in 6.2 overs 61/0 in 6.3 overs:
It is Rahul this time. A shorter ball from Alzarri Joseph and Rahul makes a mincemeat of this by pulling it over the deep midwicket region for six. He then follows it up with a spectacular shot, over mid-off, and sends it to the ropes.
KXIP 50/0 in 6 overs: The powerplay is done and dusted. Chris Gayle is looking menacing and Punjab gets to a 50.
KXIP 43/0 in 5 overs: 23 runs off the Behrendorff over. After two sixes, Gayle smashes one over the covers for four and then waits for the slower one, on the stumps, and he lifts it straight over the bowler's head for six. 1,6,6,0,4,6 off the over.
It is Gayle-storm at the Wankhade. Yes, it is clichéd but that's what is happening.
KXIP 33/0 in 4.3 overs: You cannot keep Chris Gayle quiet for long. He smacks Behrendorff over the long-on and the mid-wicket region for tow consecutive sixes. The first one was fuller length, around the off-stump area and Gayle takes his front leg out of the way and sends the ball 83 meters away, into the crowds. The second was a tad short and just pulls it away into the crowds again.
KXIP 20/0 in 4 overs: Rahul gets into the act. He picks Alzarri Joseph and sends him soaring into the crowds at the fine-leg region. It was on the pads and Rahul flicked it over and the pace carried it over beyond the ropes. That's the first six of the evening.
KXIP 11/0 in 3 overs: Rahul scores the first boundary of the match. The first ball of the over was on good length, offered room on the offside by Behrendorff and Rahul smacked it to the cover region for four.
KXIP 4/0 in 2 overs: Excellent stuff from Jasprit Bumrah. He has kept both the Punjab openers guessing. Also, it looks like Chris Gayle has decided not to go after Bumrah.
KXIP 1/0 in 1 over: A good start from Jason Behrendorff. He was full, on the off-side and just gave away the one single, to K.L. Rahul, to the third man region. He managed to beat Rahul twice in the over, too.
K.L. Rahul and Chris Gayle walk out. Jason Behrendorff will open the bowling for Mumbai.
We are all set for LIVE action
Here are the playing XIs:
Mumbai Indians : Siddhesh Lad, Quinton de Kock (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Krunal Pandya, Kieron Pollard (cap), Hardik Pandya, Rahul Chahar, Alzarri Joseph, Jason Behrendorff and Jasprit Bumrah.
Kings XI Punjab : Lokesh Rahul (wk), Chris Gayle, Karun Nair, Sarfaraz Khan, David Miller, Mandeep Singh, Ravichandran Ashwin (cap), Sam Curran, Hardus Viljoen, Mohammed Shami and Ankit Rajpoot.
Toss update: Ravichandran Ashwin calls it wrong at the spin of the coin. Kireon Pollard has chosen to bowl first.
Rohit Sharma isn't playing tonight. Kieron Pollard will lead Mumbai Indians. Siddhesh Lad will take the opener's place in the playing XI.
It is humid out there.
As the teams head out, the big question is, will Rohit Sharma play tonight? He was injured on Wednesday when he was practising in the outfield .
Here are some numbers for you: Both Mumbai and Punjab are evenly matched when it comes to head-to-head. Mumbai has won 12 matches against Punjab while the Kings have won 11. It is parity at the Wankhede with both teams winning four matches each.
Pitch: The 22-yards at Wankhede is always known to favour the batsmen and we hope it isn't any different tonight. Close to 400 runs were scored when Mumbai hosted Delhi and the home team ranked up 170 runs in its previous match.
Mumbai Indians lost to Kings XI Punjab in Mohali in the previous clash. The team, on a high after defeating CSK and SRH, will look to make it count at home.
You can follow our 2019 IPL complete coverage here.
Here is Shayan Acharya 's preview of tonight's contest:
Mumbai looks to avenge away defeat against Punjab
When Mumbai Indians squared off against Kings XI Punjab in Mohali a couple of weeks ago, the Rohit Sharma-led side suffered an eight-wicket defeat.
But things have changed since then. With its pacers in red-hot form, Mumbai has bounced back in the tournament, defeating Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad in successive outings. So, the confident side will have revenge on its mind when it plays Kings XI at the Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday.
Kings XI Punjab is placed third in the league table with eight points from six games, while Mumbai is two points behind and is placed at the fifth spot.
But in a league like the IPL, such numbers seldom matter and equations change thick and fast.
Pace threat
After early jitters, Mumbai has regrouped exceptionally well and with the young pacer from Antigua, Alzarri Joseph, in its ranks, the host can dream of turning the table on the opponent.
In the previous outing against Sunrisers Hyderabad, Joseph registered the best figures in the IPL — six wickets for 12 runs — and he will be gunning for more glory against Ravichandran Ashwin’s Punjab outfit, which is top-heavy in the batting department.
If Joseph’s sensational entry is a refreshing development for the Mumbai Indians, the host also has a formidable pace attack featuring Jasprit Bumrah and left-arm Jason Behrendorff.
But then, batting has been an area of concern.
Despite opening the innings, captain Rohit hasn’t been able to spread wings at the top and has so far amassed only 118 runs in five outings. Mumbai doesn’t even have anyone in the top-20 run scorers’ list this season, and that indicates how it has been for the side.
Formidable batting
On the contrary, Kings XI batting unit has looked formidable. Overcoming teething troubles, most of their top batsmen have slowly returned to form and that certainly is big boost for the side.
In the fixture against Sunrisers, K.L. Rahul and Mayank Agarwal guided the team to victory and them returning to form augurs well for the side. Then there is Chris Gayle, who can change the course of a game any given day.
Despite a good start to the tournament — a knock of 70 in the opener against Rajasthan Royals -- Gayle hasn’t looked lethal so far, and he would be hoping to fire at the iconic Wankhede.
The bowling department is well guarded by captain Ravichandran Ashwin, who has scalped seven wickets so far. On the pace front, England youngster Sam Curran and Mohammed Shami have been quite effective and if things fall in place, the two can rip apart the opponent.
With the league entering the half-way stage, every fixture is crucial and both Mumbai and Punjab will be aiming for those coveted two points!
The match will be streamed live on Hotstar.
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