(ESPNCRICINFO) – Ashutosh Sharma’s heroic 28-ball 61 went in vain as Punjab Kings suffered yet another close defeat in IPL 2024, this time going down to Mumbai Indians in Mullanpur by nine runs.
Early in the chase, Kings were at the risk of being bundled out cheaply when Jasprit Bumrah and Gerald Coetzee combined to leave the hosts 14 for 4 in 2.1 overs. Soon that became 77 for 6. But Ashutosh – and Shashank Singh with a 25-ball 41 – injected life into the contest.

With three overs to go, Kings needed only 25 runs more. However, Ashutosh fell at the start of the 18th over, and Mumbai never let that advantage go. Kings suffered their fourth final-over defeat of the season, and their fifth loss in all, as Mumbai climbed from ninth to seventh on the table.
Bumrah, Coetzee bowl thunderbolts

Kings were on the mat early in their chase of 193 when Coetzee had Prabhsimran Singh caught behind down the leg side in the first over. At the other end, Bumrah took the new ball and struck right away, removing franchise debutant Rilee Rossouw for a duck and the new opener Sam Curran for 6.
Liam Livingstone, batting at No. 4, then lasted two balls when his attempted pull off a 150kph Coetzee delivery was sliced back to the bowler. A score of 14 for 4 soon became 49 for 5 when Harpreet Singh Bhatia was caught by legspinner Shreyas Gopal, and then became 77 for 6 when Jitesh Sharma was lbw for nine by Madhwal.

The near miracle
By the time Ashutosh walked in, Shashank had already kept Kings’ score moving with the occasional boundary. Shashank pumped three sixes and two fours to make 41 in 25 balls from No. 6, but it was only when Ashutosh joined him that runs flowed from both ends.

Ashutosh hammered Madhwal for a six over fine leg in the 10th over and then took Romario Shepherd for four and six in the 11th. He clubbed Hardik Pandya for a six in the 12th too, and even after Bumrah had dismissed Shashank in the 13th, he swept the fast bowler for an audacious six in the same over. Ashutosh and Harpreet Brar then took Coetzee for a 13-run 15th over as they made 65 runs in that five-over period.

But it was the 16th over that took Kings ahead in the game for the first time in the chase. Madhwal missed his lengths and Ashutosh punished him with consecutive sixes. Harpreet smacked another six to bring the equation down to 28 off four overs.

The required run-rate of only seven gave Ashutosh and Harpreet the breathing room to see out Bumrah’s final over for only three runs, which ended with Kings needing a manageable 25 off 18. But Coetzee’s uncanny habit of breaking partnerships came through again, and he had Ashutosh pulling to deep midwicket at the start of the 18th over.

Harpreet was then dismissed by Hardik in the 19th over. Rabada, the No. 11, struck a six off Hardik’s last ball to make it 13 required off seven balls. A single off the last ball of that over, and a wide off the first ball of the final over, bowled by Akash Madhwal, brought it down to 11 off six.
However, he was run out in pursuit of a second run next ball, and Mumbai could celebrate a great escape.