MUMBAI: Mumbai Indians (MI)’s 3-match winning streak in IPL-2023 was snapped as Punjab Kings (PBKS) defeated Mumbai by 13 runs at their home ground Wankhede Stadium on Saturday. With the help of caretaker captain Sam Karan (55 off 29 balls) and Harpreet’s explosive innings, Punjab Kings posted a huge score of 214 for 8, in reply to which the Mumbai team could only score 201 for 6 in 20 overs.
Chasing a target of 215 runs, the Mumbai team batted well and made the match exciting. Mumbai needed 16 runs in the last over but Punjab’s Arshdeep Singh conceded only 2 runs in the last over and took 2 wickets to prevent Mumbai from achieving the target. The Mumbai team put up a good fight with the help of a strong counter-attack by Cameron Green (67 runs off 43 balls) and Suryakumar Yadav (57 runs off 26 balls). Both shared 75 runs in 36 balls. However, in the 18th over, Arshdeep dismissed the dangerous Suryakumar to seal the team’s victory. He took 4 wickets in the match.
Earlier, batting first, Punjab Kings scored 214 runs for the loss of 8 wickets in which Sam Curran and Harpreet Bhatia (41 runs off 28 balls) put on a partnership of 92 runs for the 5th wicket to change the picture of the entire match, Punjab batsmen scored 131 runs in the last 10 overs. Arjun Tendulkar (48 runs 1 wicket in 3 overs) bowled a good opening spell but 31 runs came in his third over while 69 runs were scored between 16 and 18 overs.
Although the real hero of the Punjab Kings was Karan who scored his first half-century of the season, he and Harpreet put on a 50-ball 92 for the fifth wicket and gave the team a huge score. Karve hit 5 fours and 4 sixes. The Mumbai bowlers capitalized on their good start and could not restrict the opposition to a low score. After 13 overs, Punjab’s score was just 97 for the loss of 4 wickets.