Mumbai Indians registered a thrilling 9-run win over Punjab Kings on the road at Mullanpur on Thursday in the ongoing season of the Indian Premier League. MI managed to put up a score of 192 in their 20 overs before bundling out PBKS for 183 in 19.1 overs.
PBKS were reeling at 49 for the loss of 5 wickets in the seventh over before a 41-run contribution from Shashank Singh and a 61-run blinder from revelation Ashutosh Sharma nearly took Punjab home, but the five-time champions found their way back to wrap up the hosts before they could cross the finish line.
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This was the fourth time in the current season that Punjab lost a game in the final over and stand-in skipper Sam Curran lauded the valiant efforts of the team.
“Another close one, I think this team likes a close one, but unfortunately another loss,” the Englishman said.
Curran went on to heap praise on Ashutosh and Shashank and said that their performances this season have been heart-warming.
“Another incredible knock from the young guy Ashutosh, but another close loss. It’s very tough, you want to lose close games rather than getting thumped, but we’ve lost a lot of wickets at the start, the way the younger guys have taken the team so close is heartening,” Curran said.
Ashutosh took the fight to the Mumbai bowlers smashing them all over the park as he spearheaded the chase that ultimately ended in a heartbreak.
“They have incredible confidence, you see a guy like Ashutosh having the confidence to play the sweeps and the big hits against pacers, it’s so great to watch them in action,” the 25-year-old said.
The Englishman said the team took encouragement in the spirit they showed on the day despite the loss and hoped to turn things around going forward.
“It’s disheartening to lose close games, but there are a lot of positives in this team. We still have the belief in us, we believe we can turn this around, the sun will come up tomorrow and we will hopefully get on a winning run,” he signed off.