The same old story for Mumbai Indians in IPL 2022. They lost their fifth consecutive match in IPL 2022, losing by by 12 runs vs Punjab Kings in Match 23 of the tournament.
Dewald Brevis and Tilak Varma brought the team back on track in chase after MI lost openers Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan cheaply. But the middle order collapsed again with two run-outs being effected by Punjab fielders as well in form of Tilak and Kieron Pollard.
Suryakumar Yadav then took charge and almost got the team to the winning mark but in the end, he perished too and with him, chances of MI's win.
Mumbai fans slammed the team for their poor campaign in the league, some questioning captain Rohit Sharma's tactics, while others asking questions to Rs 15 crore buy Kishan and veteran Pollard.
Check reactions:
@mipaltan @ImRo45 still have time remove @KieronPollard55 looser. Get in @timdavid8 and #danielsams u will win matches. Ur wasting time and effort on this pollard looser.
— Rushabh Patwa (@rushabhmpatwa) April 13, 2022
Rohit Sharma's average in IPL since 2017:
2017 - 23.79 (10 inns)
2018 - 23.83 (14 inns)
2019 - 28.93 (14 inns)
2020 - 27.67 (15 inns)
2021 - 29.31 (15 inns)Hittu_ fans have a habit of stanning his mediocrity and watching these shit kinda performance so.
— Mill (@Millhuke) April 13, 2022
Nothing just looking at point table _#MIvPBKS #RohitSharma #MumbaiIndians #IPL2022 pic.twitter.com/D0n5d0M964
— Parshuram_Patil_10__ (@parshuram_1997) April 13, 2022
oh god!! being #MumbaiIndians fan this season can hurt you more than breakup ... This was our win .. __ #MIvPBKS #MIvsPBKS #PBKSvsMI #RohitSharma
— Pushkar (@pushkarmshra) April 13, 2022
Rubbish & third class captaincy @ImRo45
Leave captaincy of India as well. If you don't know what playing Xl you should play with then you don't deserve.
_______— Suraj Dubey (@ImD_Suraj) April 13, 2022
Mumbai Indians #IPL2022 #MIvsPBKS pic.twitter.com/VbWxEFkvIz
— Ak (@Ak34429850) April 13, 2022
#MumbaiIndians
__duniya hil gayi_— Naman (@IMNamanYadav9) April 13, 2022
Match report:
After this loss, Mumbai Indians have inched closer towards elimination.
A target of 199 looked imminently chaseable when teenagers Dewald Brevis (49 off 25 balls) and NT Tilak Varma (36 off 20 balls) were at the crease but Punjab bowlers did well enough to restrict MI to 186 for nine at the end of 20 overs.
Odean Smith (4/30 in 4 overs) redeemed himself after the horror last two balls against Gujarat Titans as he got two wickets in the final over for Punjab. For Mumbai, eight wins in nine games with this kind of bowling attack looks near impossible.
However, if there was one positive, it was Brevis's batting. It took eight balls before Brevis could get going as he unleashed a cover drive and a straight drive off Arshdeep Singh to tee off. A pulled six off Smith settled his nerves before he decided to wreak havoc with India international Rahul Chahar's nerve. A boundary was followed by four huge sixes as Chahar first lost length and then his bearings as one long hop after another was deposited into the stands.
The Baby AB's transformation from boy to a man happened with that 29-run over which showed that MI had made a 10-year investment. He was finally out one short of his maiden IPL fifty but not before leaving everyone yearning for more. At the other end was Tilak, who had already made an impression, showed great game sense by letting Brevis do the heavy lifting before he himself hit some marvellous sixes including an audacious slash over point off Smith.
The duo added 84 runs in just 6.5 overs to turn the match head on before their successive dismissals did again bring Punjab back as fortunes swung like a pendulum. Suryakumar Yadav (43 off 30 balls) wasn't in best rhythm and Kieron Pollard (10, 11 balls) season just got from bad to worse.
Finally, it was Surya, who took matters in his own hands with a six over extra cover off Vaibhav Arora and then opened the face to slash it over backward point for a six as 33 were required off last three overs. However it was Kagiso Rabada, who removed Surya in the 19th over, caught by Smith in the deep after which there wasn't much resistance left from MI.
With PTI inputs
