IPL 2018: Bumrah’s magical spell helps MI beat KXIP, playoffs hopes alive

Mumbai Indians beat Kings XI Punjab by 3 runs and kept their hopes alive to make it to the playoffs. Bumrah took 3 wickets.

In the 50th and a crucial match of the VIVO Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018, Mumbai Indians pulled up a surprising victory against Kings XI Punjab in a match dominated by the latter during the major portion of the match. With this victory, Mumbai also moved up to the fourth spot of the VIVO IPL points table, decimating Kings XI punjab to the sixth position. Lokesh Rahul had almost taken his team towards the victory but Bumrah became an obstacle with his magical spell, clinching 3 wickets for just 15 runs in his 4 overs. The 187-run chase looked comfortable for Punjab courtesy, the 100-run partnership between Rahul and Finch. The contest had become a nail-biter during the last few overs of the second inning, Punjab needed 17 runs in the last over and the suspense only ended in the last ball.

Earlier, Kings XI Punjab won the toss and elected to bowl against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Evin Lewis and Suryakumar Yadav opened the batting for Mumbai. Just as Mumbai’s inning took a start, Andrew Tye stormed with the ball and clinched four crucial wickets during his spell. Mumbai captain Rohit Sharma failed to score again. Krunal and Pollard blew life into rather dull innings. Krunal departed after a while but Pollard continued the attack, perishing only after scoring a crucial half century. Even after a bittersweet journey, Mumbai put up the target of 187 runs. In reply to Mumbai’s inning, Kings XI Punjab’s Lokesh Rahul gave the filip to the run chase, Gayle too showed some action before departing. Rahul and Finch carved a 100-run partnership with Rahul scoring his fifty but Finch fell short of completing his. Mumbai batsmen kept longing for a wicket during the major portion of the match. A wicket, however, came in the form of Finch and soon Bumrah got Stoinis under his web. Rahul kept the run chase alive but fell just when the team was on the verge of a victory.

IPL 2018 Match 50 KXIP vs MI SCOREBOARD

Kings XI Punjab innings update: Over by over

Kings XI Punjab playing XI for today’s match: Lokesh Rahul(w), Chris Gayle, Aaron Finch, Yuvraj Singh, Manoj Tiwary, Marcus Stoinis, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin(c), Andrew Tye, Mohit Sharma, Ankit Rajpoot

Over 1: Chris Gayle and K L Rahul to open for Kings XI, Mitchell McClenaghan to start it for Mumbai Indians. Rahul punches through the covers region and gets off the mark. Gayle on strike. Single to Gayle as well. Top edge, goes for six. Lucky for K L Rahul. Trying to play the miss, Rahul lucky yet again. Excellent square cut but equally well fielded. Dot to end the over. KXIP: 8-0

Over 2: Jasprit Bumrah comes to the attack, very fierce bouncer to Gayle. Well defended by Gayle. Single to Gayle. Brilliant ball by Bumrah to Rahul, wanted to cut but missed. Dot to finish the over. KXIP: 9-0

Over 3: Hardik Pandya comes to the attack, and Gayle swings and it goes for SIX. Over the slip for four. Single to Gayle. Edge, gone for four. No slip in place. Brilliant cover drive for four. 19 runs from the over. KXIP: 28-0

Over 4: Mitchell to continue, Gayle hits over mid-on for four. Pulled for one by Gayle. Good bouncer by Mitchell to Gayle. Good bouncer by Gayle again and he hit it in the air, simple catch. Aaron Finch comes to the crease. End of the over. KXIP: 34-1

Over 5: Pandya continues, dot ball. One run to Finch. Two runs to Finch. Two runs to Finch again. What a wack this is, SIX runs. KXIP: 46-1

Over 6: Krunal Pandya comes to the attack, FOUR runs over mid-on. IN the air, just getting the finger tips of Ben Cutting. Dot ball. Single to Finch. Swept for four, Rahul is not leaving any opportunity to score runs. KXIP: 56-1

IPL 2018, MI vs KXIP: Mumbai face Punjab in crucial match today for playoff

MI have to win both their remaining two matches to keep their chances alive for advancing to the playoffs. While KXIP need to win at least one game to be in reckoning. Catch live updates here

In the 50th match of Vivo Indian Premier League (IPL 2018) Rohit Sharma-led Mumbai Indians (MI) will take on Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) led by R Ashwin in a must-win game at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. MI will be desperate for a win against KXIP to keep their playoff hopes alive when they square-off in today’s IPL match. With 10 points, the three-time champions Mumbai Indians are placed at the sixth spot in the Vivo IPL 2018 points table while their opponents are a spot ahead with 12 points in their kitty.

Just when MI’s dream of making it to the final four was on the verge of getting shattered, the Rohit Sharma-led brigade came up with a spirited show to register a hat-trick of wins before faltering against Rajasthan Royals in their previous game. Mumbai Indians have to win both their remaining two matches to keep their chances alive for advancing to the playoffs.

Mumbai Indians, with an excellent net run-rate, need to put behind the humiliation by the Rajasthan Royals and come out with all guns blazing against an equally jittery KXIP, who have lost their way in the second half of IPL 2018 after starting strongly. MI’s middle order was yet again exposed in the last game when their batsmen, including skipper Rohit Sharma, failed miserably. Only Suryakumar Yadav has been among the runs on a consistent basis and MI would be pleased with the return to form of West Indian opener Evin Lewis. These two will be banked upon to provide an excellent start.

But they need the others down the order especially skipper Rohit to contribute big in today’s IPL match. Save his match-winning knock against Royal Challengers Bangalore here, Rohit has failed to perform to his potential and MI need him in cracking form, backed up by the Pandya brothers Hardik and Krunal. Mumbai Indians’ bowling too has been a worry. The likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik and left arm pacer Mitchell McClenaghan will have to bowl cleverly to stop the rampaging K L Rahul and Chris Gayle from scoring big runs in today’s IPL match. All three may come up with a short-ball attack on the rival openers as Umesh Yadav showed with great success for RCB. The role of leggie Mayank Markande (14 wickets) will also be crucial along with that of Krunal Pandya to choke the run-flow in the middle overs during today’s IPL match at Wankhede.

On the other hand, despite being a place ahead, Kings XI Punjab lag behind Mumbai Indians in net run-rate. The Ravichandran Ashwin-led side KXIP, who started their IPL 2018 campaign on a rousing note, faltered in the business end of the league, losing five of their last six games. KXIP suffered their worst defeat of IPL 2018 in their last outing when Royal Challengers Bangalore hammered them by 10 wickets, a game where both the batsmen and bowlers succumbed before Kohli’s men. Kings XI Punjab’s batting mostly relies on openers Rahul and Chris Gayle as the duo have accumulated 558 and 350 runs respectively. KXIP openers have been a major reason behind their success as the two have handed a perfect start to their side on several occasions in IPL 2018 and KXIP will hope that they must provide a great start in today’s IPL match again. Karun Nair has been inconsistent with 247 runs so far, while veteran Yuvraj Singh and Mayank Agarwal are yet to make their presence felt in the middle-order.