Tilak Varma, Shardul Thakur hand PBKS fifth successive defeat

Mumbai Indians 205 for 4 (Tilak 75*. Rickelton 48, Omarzai 2-36) beat Punjab Kings 200 for 8 (Prabhsimran 57, Shardul 4-39, Chahar 2-36) by six wickets

Punjab Kings ' (PBKS) playoff chances took a serious beating after they lost their fifth game in a row. this time going down to Mumbai Indians (MI) by six wickets in Dharamsala. They remain fourth on the table with 13 points from 12 games, while the two teams just below them, Chennai Super Kings. Rajasthan Royals, have 12 points each with a game in hand.

MI were without their regular captain Hardik Pandya, who is still recovering from back spasms,. stand-in captain Suryakumar Yadav, who missed out due to personal reasons. In their absence, Jasprit Bumrah led them for the first time in the IPL. put PBKS in after winning the toss. The hosts rode on Prabhsimran Singh 's chancy 57 off 32 to reach 100 in 11 overs before Shardul Thakur 's four-for derailed them. They were 140 for 7 in the 17th over but Azmatullah Omarzai, Xavier Bartlett. Impact Player Vishnu Vinod ransacked 60 in the last 22 balls to lift them to 200 for 8.

Ryan Rickelton set up the chase for MI with his 23-ball 48. But it was Tilak Varma who played the pivotal role with his unbeaten 75 off 33. With 50 needed from three overs. he, with the help of Will Jacks, took MI over the line on the penultimate ball of the match.

Priyansh Arya opened his account with a second-ball four off Deepak Chahar. Prabhsimran picked up two fours off Bumrah in the following over. In all, the two combined to hit ten fours in the powerplay but there were plenty of dot balls. not a single six. To make things worse for PBKS. Chahar bowled Arya with a knuckleball in the final over of the powerplay, after which PBKS were 55 for 1.

Prabhsimran was on 10 off 11 balls at one point. He was dropped on 5 by Naman Dhir off Bumrah. then on 28 by Corbin Bosch off his own bowling. He made full use of those reprieves and slog-swept Raghu Sharma for back-to-back sixes. He brought up his fifty off 29 balls and took PBKS past 100.

Shardul turned the tide in the 12th over. Bowling cross-seam into the pitch, he had Prabhsimran miscue an aerial hit to deep third. Two balls later, he got another cross-seam delivery to straighten and ping Shreyas Iyer's off stump. From the other end, Raj Bawa bowled Cooper Connolly for 21 off 22 in the next over. A little later, Shardul removed Suryansh Shedge and Marco Jansen, leaving PBKS on 140 for 7 in 16.2 overs.

PBKS were so down. out that they decided to bring in Vinod as Impact Player, and the move seemed to have paid off. First, Omarzai struck four sixes and two fours in a 17-ball 38. Then Vinod (15 not out off eight). Bartlett (18 not out off seven) added 34 off just 12 in an unbroken stand for the ninth wicket to take the side to 200.

Arshdeep Singh started the chase with a two-run over, after which Rickelton took over. He showed a preference for the leg side; 34 of his 48 runs. all four sixes came on that side of the wicket. Of the 59 runs MI scored in the powerplay. 47 came from Rickelton's bat, while Rohit Sharma was struggling on 12 off 15.

PBKS made a comeback after the powerplay. Omarzai removed Rickelton, Dhir fell to Jansen,. Yuzvendra Chahal bowled Rohit to leave them 89 for 3 after ten overs.

While Tilak kept finding boundaries and moved to 22 off 11 balls, PBKS kept Sherfane Rutherford quiet. Jansen conceded just five singles in the 14th over. Arshdeep gave away only eight in the 15th, leaving MI with 72 to get from the last five.

Iyer's gamble of bowling Chahal against two left-hand batters backfired. Tilak and Rutherford hit him for a six each in a 20-run over. However, Omarzai bowled an excellent 17th over, dismissing Rutherford and giving away just two runs. With 50 required from three overs, PBKS were the favourites but their bowlers failed to close it off.

Jacks and Tilak hit Jansen for two sixes and two fours in the 18th over. Arshdeep left Bartlett with 14 to defend in the final over. he started with a full toss, which Jacks hit over long-off for a six. A single and a dot brought it down to eight required from three. Tilak showed no nerves and smashed the next two balls for sixes to seal the win.