Wednesday in Mohali, the Mumbai Indians defeated the Punjab Kings in the IPL 2023. Fans were delighted by Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav’s brilliant batting, which overshadowed Liam Livingstone’s heroics.
Wednesday’s Match 46 of the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) between Punjab Kings (PBKS) and former five-time record champion Mumbai Indians (MI) was a high-scoring spectacle at the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) Stadium in Mohali. Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav were on form with the bat, thwarting Liam Livingstone’s efforts and securing a six-wicket victory while both teams remained in the hunt for the playoffs.
MI elected to pursue after winning the toss and seeing PBKS lose opener Prabhsimran Singh (9) to medium-pacer Arshad Khan in the second over of the PowerPlay (PP) with 13 runs on the board. Shikhar Dhawan (30) and Matthew Short (27) added 49 runs for the second wicket to keep the hosts in the game until Dhawan was dismissed by veteran leg-spinner Pikush Chawla in the eighth over.
Then, Short and Liam Livingstone (82) teamed up for a brief 33-run stand before Chawla removed the former in the 12th over. Livingstone and Jitesh Sharma (49) mounted a savage attack on the MI bowlers, contributing to an unbeaten 119-run stand for the fourth wicket that propelled Punjab to a mammoth total of 214/3.
At the same time, Livingstone smashed his fifth IPL fifty, and a couple of dropped catches by Dhawan and Jitesh also contributed significantly to the team’s total. Chawla took a handful of wickets for Mumbai, and he was also effective with his economy. Rishi Dhawan, the fast bowler, dismissed senior captain and opener Rohit Sharma (0) in the first over of the visitors’ PP with no runs on the board.
However, youthful openers Ishan Kishan (80*) and Cameron Green (23) added 54 runs for the second wicket before Green was dismissed by pacer Nathan Ellis in the sixth over. To keep up with the asking rate, Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav (66) added 116 for the third wicket, while achieving their 14th and 19th IPL half-centuries, respectively.
Yadav was dismissed by Ellis in the sixteenth over, and Kishan was dismissed by Arshdeep Singh in the next over, at 178. Having maintained the run rate, MI’s task became more manageable in the final phases, resulting in a six-wicket victory. Ellis grabbed a pair wickets for the Kings, whereas Rishi was economical, and Arshdeep proved costly with his final over, conceding 66 runs in total.