Punjab Kings (PBKS) returned to winning ways in the tournament after a victory over the Mumbai Indians (MI) in Match 17 of the VIVO Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 at the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Friday.

After the bowlers restricted MI to 131/6, a captain’s knock from KL Rahul guided PBKS to a 9-wicket victory.

Chasing 132, the PBKS openers – Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul – got to a flier after Krunal Pandya was asked to bowl the second over with the new ball.

PBKS skipper started the second over with two fours while Agarwal finished it with a remarkable extra-cover lofted shot for six. Rahul then pulled Bumrah in the next over for a six over fine-leg.

Mayank smashed 12 runs off the fourth over by Trent Boult with a couple of fours and PBKS were on the move as they raced to 45/0 at the end of powerplay.

The fifty-run partnership was up for the opening wicket and the chase was going smoothly for the PBKS.

It was Rahul Chahar again who turned out to be the solution to MI’s worries as the leg-spinner dismissed Agarwal after the right-hander was caught in the deep.

Punjab Kings were 62/1 and MI capitalised on the breakthrough by adding pressure with spinners Chahar and Jayant Yadav, who kept things tight from both ends.

Gayle got going for PBKS and was taking calculated risks against the MI spinners as he struck three boundaries.

Rahul then attacked a loose delivery from Pollard and hit a flat six over fine-leg while Gayle smacked his first six of the innings against Jayant Yadav in the next over. 

The ask for PBKS was run-a-ball with 9 wickets in hand and four overs to go. Bumrah conceded only seven runs in the next over.

The Punjab Kings skipper then brought up his half-century and both Gayle and Rahul smashed a six each off Boult in the 17th over. Rahul finished the chase in style with a four as PBKS successfully chased down the target with 14 balls to spare.

Earlier, MI, who were put in to bat first, remained unchanged from their previous game against Delhi Capitals. They were in early trouble after Quinton de Kock was caught inside the circle in the second over off Deepak Hooda.

PBKS put MI to the backfoot with the new ball and didn’t allow them any opportunities to score until the 5th over before the MI skipper put a full-toss away for four. At the end of powerplay, MI were restricted to 21/1.

Ravi Bishnoi was introduced to the attack and the right-arm spinner got Ishan Kishan out with a googly after the left-hander edged one to Rahul behind the stumps.

MI skipper, who was joined by Suryakumar Yadav, then creamed two fours off the first two balls of Fabian Allen in the eighth over.

While Bishnoi was bowling tight lines from one end, Rohit continued attacking Allen as he cleared the ropes for a maximum and MI were 49-2 at the 10-over mark.

Rohit then took on Hooda to produce the same result. Surya joined the party with a four and a six each off his blade as the fifty partnership was up between the two.

Rohit notched up his first fifty of the season in style with a four and Surya continued to bat with freedom, with MI scoring 12 off the 14th over by Bishnoi.

The 100 was up for MI, with five overs remaining in the innings and the well-established duo of Rohit-Surya was ready to accelerate.

Bishnoi was back to bowl the 17th over of the innings and broke the dangerous partnership after Surya mistimed a reverse-sweep that went straight to the hands of Chris Gayle. 

PBKS then got rid of MI skipper after Rohit was caught in the deep by Allen off Shami.

Pollard, who was the next man in, clubbed a six on the first ball of the penultimate over by Arshdeep Singh. However, the left-arm pacer found success in the same over after scalping the wicket of Hardik Pandya, who was holed out into the deep.

Shami bowled an excellent last over, conceding only 6 runs as well as found a breakthrough in form of Krunal Pandya as MI put 131/6 on the board in the first innings.

Brief Scores: Punjab Kings 132/1 (KL Rahul 60*, Chris Gayle 43*; Rahul Chahar 1/19) beat Mumbai Indians 131/6 (Rohit Sharma 63, Suryakumar Yadav 33; Ravi Bishnoi 2/21, Mohammad Shami 2/21) by 9 wickets