Arshdeep Singh provided a masterclass in death bowling as he led Punjab Kings to a 13-run win over Mumbai Indians in their Tata Indian Premier League match high-scoring thriller at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, on Saturday.
The win lifts PBKS to fifth position on the table.
Tasked with defending 16 runs on a batter-friendly pitch, Arshdeep was simply outstanding as he conceded a mere two runs in the final over, taking two wickets in the process. He ended the match with four wickets for 29 runs in four overs. Mumbai were chasing 215 to win but managed 201 for six in their 20 overs.
Fortunately for Arshdeep, he and his fellow bowlers had plenty of runs to work with after Sam Curran had inspired PBKS to 214 for eight.
Curran, the most expensive player in IPL 2023, justified his huge price tag with a match-winning half-century that catapulted PBKS to 214. PBKS' stand-in captain led from the front and put on an exceptional show as he struck five fours and four sixes on his way to a brilliant 55 off 29 balls.
When Curran arrived at the crease, PBKS were struggling on 83 for four. He consolidated and stitched a match-winning partnership with Harpreet Singh Bhatia (41 off 28). Curran and Bhatia's 92-run partnership is the second-highest fifth-wicket partnership for PBKS in the IPL.
Curran, Bhatia and Jitesh Sharma (25 off 7) were sensational as they turned what looked like a middling 170 score after 14 overs to 214 runs. The trio scored a large chunk of PBKS' 92 runs in the last five overs.
Later in the evening, Rohit Sharma (44 off 27), Cameron Green (67 off 43) and Suryakumar Yadav (57 off 26) kept the hosts in the game for most of their innings. With Rohit leading the charge, Mumbai were able to shrug off the early setback of losing Ishan Kishan in the third over. Kishan became Arshdeep Singh's 50th IPL wicket.
Rohit (44 off 27) was looking fluent and playing at his best as he bludgeoned the ball left, right and centre. The Mumbai captain became the third player and first Indian to hit 250 sixes in the IPL. He will consider himself unlucky to have missed out on a 42nd IPL half-century.
Cameron Green looked worth every cent Mumbai paid for him as he brought his second IPL half-century in as many games. The Australian stitched a fabulous partnership with Suryakumar Yadav that kept the required run rate in check. Their 75-run partnership was from 36 deliveries.
For his part, Suryakumar Yadav unfurled his full range of shots to romp to a 23-ball 50, his first 50 of the season. The Suryakumar Yadav of old had arrived after a tough start to the season. Mumbai looked in the contest until the 18th over when Suryakumar Yadav was dismissed by Arshdeep Singh. The arrival of the big-hitting Tim David (25* off 13) seemed to bode well for Mumbai, but the Australian could not do much.
Unfortunately for Mumbai, despite efforts by Rohit, Green, Suryakumar and Tim David being high-value entertainment, they were not enough to cancel out PBKS' total.
MUMBAI INDIANS: Rohit Sharma (capt), Ishan Kishan (wk), Cameron Green, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Tim David, Arjun Tendulkar, Hrithik Shokeen, Jofra Archer, Piyush Chawla, Jason Behrendorff
PUNJAB KINGS: Atharva Taide, Prabhsimran Singh, Matthew Short, Liam Livingstone, Harpreet Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wk), M Shahrukh Khan, Sam Curran (capt), Harpreet Brar, Arshdeep Singh, Rahul Chahar.