IPL 2021: Saurabh Tiwary and Hardik Pandya help Mumbai Indians Beat Punjab Kings

Mumbai Indians beat Punjab Kings by six wickets in an important encounter at Sheikh Zayed Stadium. A brilliant knock from Saurabh Tiwary (45) and all-rounder Hardik Pandya’s (40) cameo helped Mumbai Indians to reach the target. A deserved victory had earned two points to Mumbai Indians. Mumbai Indians had claimed the fifth spot after defeating Punjab Kings.

After being put in to bat first, Punjab Kings lost early wickets and scored at a low pace. Krunal Pandya gave the first breakthrough by dismissing Mandeep Singh in the 6th over. Kieron Pollard stunned Punjab Kings by dismissing the sixer king Chris Gayle and Captain KL Rahul in the same over. He also recorded his 300 wickets in T20s. Nicholas Pooran lost his wicket after Bumrah trapped him leg before.

Aiden Markram(42) and Deepak Hooda (28) added 61 runs for the fifth wicket and helped Punjab reach a decent score. Rohit Sharma kept on changing the bowlers frequently, which yielded good result for his team. Punjab Kings finished 135/6 in their 20 overs.

Chasing 136, Mumbai Indians lost Rohit for just 8 runs. Ravi Bishnoi scalped Rohit and Suryakumar Yadav in two consecutive deliveries and put pressure on Mumbai. Suryakumar continued his poor form and went for a golden duck. De Kock and Tiwary took the responsibility and played sensibly to chase the target. While Tiwary scored an impressive 45, de Kock contributed 27 runs.

Hardik Pandya kept himself calm and played a cameo along with Pollard. Both remained unbeaten and guided Mumbai to enjoy the victory. Mumbai Indians are back to winning ways. Mumbai Indians should carry on the momentum and win the remaining matches to qualify for the play-offs.