(ESPNCRICINFO) – About three inches. That’s all that stood between the Kings XI Punjab (KIXP) and an outright victory over the Mumbai Indians. But they eventually got there. After two Super Overs.
A see-sawing game came down to the last ball. Chris Jordan dug out a yorker to long-on and sensed the opportunity to get the two runs he needed to end the game. But he turned in a giant circle, adding to the distance he needed to cover; distance on which this entire game was riding on. In the end, he was about three inches short.
Jasprit Bumrah allowed only five runs off his bowling to set up a seemingly straightforward Super-Over chase, but Mohammed Shami had other ideas. With a nothing target behind him, he nailed yorker after yorker after yorker, to push this obscene match into a second Super Over; and three for the day in total. A piece of KL Rahul brilliance kept Quinton de Kock from completing the match-winning run.
Then it was Mayank Agarwal’s turn in the spotlight, leaping high on the edge of the midwicket boundary, he saved a definite six to bring down the Kings XI’s target from 16 to 12 in the second Super Over. As if he had massive FOMO, he even walked out and helped chase it down – poor Trent Boult, these tie-breakers never seem to work out for him – as one of the most memorable nights in the IPL came to a close. No one – at least from the Kings XI’s camp – is gonna’ be sleeping much though.
Powerplay and counter
Kings XI’s fast bowlers found the tiniest bit of movement off the pitch and stayed disciplined enough to make it count. Arshdeep Singh had Rohit Sharma playing onto his stumps and Ishan Kishan caught at third man. Shami took care of Suryakumar Yadav. For the first time this IPL, Mumbai lost three wickets inside the powerplay (43 for 3).
So Quinton de Kock, the set batsman, throttled down. His job now was to last the 20 overs. The new batsman, Krunal Pandya, had a trickier role. He couldn’t get out, but he also had to keep the scoreboard moving, and he did that while exhibiting some glorious off-side strokeplay, including an on-the-up cover drive for six to a Chris Jordan short ball.
Big wickets and counter
That handy 58-run partnership was broken in the 14th over, which seemed like a good thing for Mumbai, especially when Hardik Pandya walked in and thumped a six off his first ball. They were 102 for 4 with 36 balls left for their big-hitters to impose themselves on the game.
The only problem was, one of those balls was too short, too fast, and too good for Hardik. The wicket-taker, Shami, had established a fine blueprint for his team-mates to follow in the death. Do NOT land it in their half.
But Arshdeep did, and not only was he hit for 22 runs in the 18th over, he got Kieron Pollard going. With the West Indian in full flow, Mumbai amassed 54 runs off the last 18 balls to finish with 176 for 6.
Hard-hitting goodness
Rahul was a little different today. After losing the toss, he said it didn’t matter at this stage of the tournament. It looked like he was a man standing on the edge and capable of doing anything. And it showed in his batting. He did away with his inhibitions and started hitting from the get-go. At the end of the powerplay, he was 32 off 17 with four fours and two sixes. Kings XI were 51 for 1. Mumbai were nervous at least.
Chris Gayle (24 off 21) offered support. Nicholas Pooran (24 off 12) offered relief. But in the end, it was simply Rahul vs Mumbai. Kings XI needed 52 off their last five overs. He brought it down to 24 off 16. And then it happened.
A 149 kph yorker. It was too quick for Rahul. A set Rahul. A Rahul determined to do anything to win this game. Bumrah found a way through that resolve and gave his team hope.
But for once, Kings XI chose not to settle for second best and succeeded (with help from two dropped catches and an inside edge for four in the last two overs, and some spectacular Super-Over heroics).
