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Punjab Kings put up a sensational all-round effort to comprehensively outplay defending champions Mumbai Indians in IPL 2021 on Friday. The victory has helped them move up to 5th in the points table.
PBKS bowlers did a good job in restricting a dangerous Mumbai batting line-up to 131 in their quota of 20 overs on a slow Chennai track. Mohammed Shami and Ravi Bishnoi were the pick of the bowlers after they claimed 2 wickets each at an economy of 5.20.
PBKS got off to a brilliant start in the chase with Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul striking the ball beautifully in the powerplay overs. Mayank lost his wicket n the 8th over, but KL Rahul continued to anchor the innings. Chris Gayle walked into bat at No. 3 and started off slowly, only to accelerate as his innings progressed.
Punjab Kings eventually got to the total with 9 wickets and 14 deliveries to spare.
A quick look at the updated IPL points table after match 17
What does this mean for PBKS?
A win against a team like Mumbai will definitely give a boost to the Punjab team's confidence. Not only did PBKS gain 2 points with the victory, they also improved their net run rate by reaching the target with 14 balls to spare - a factor that plays a huge role towards the business end of the IPL league stage.
The inclusion of Ravi Bishnoi in the playing XI also paid rich dividends to the Punjab franchise. The team would be extremely pleased with the current combination and will definitely enter the next few games of the competition with renewed vigour.
What does this mean for MI?
The defending champions came into IPL 2021 as the favorites to win the trophy once again. However, the Rohit Sharma-led team has failed to live up to their potential thus far. In 5 games, the Mumbai Indians have lost 3, emerging victorious on only 2 occasions.
What is more concerning for them is the failure of their batting. Mumbai Indians have now failed to put up competitive totals 2 games in a row. Their bowling has also been below-par, not being able to defend scores on most occasions.
The Mumbai Indians' net run rate has also gone down with this defeat.
Impact of tonight's result on the other teams
While RCB and CSK seem to be strong candidates to qualify for the play-offs already, a win against Mumbai means that the Punjab Kings have also announced themselves as a contender for the top four spots.
This also means that Rajasthan Royals, Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad - with 2 points each - have a lot of catching up to do in the coming days..
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