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Mumbai Indians (MI) beat Punjab Kings (PBKS) by nine runs in the 33rd match of IPL 2024 on Thursday (April 18) in Mullanpur. After registering their third win in seven games, MI moved up to seventh position in the points table, while PBKS occupy the ninth spot.
After being asked to bat first, MI notched up a daunting total of 192/7 on a tricky surface. Suryakumar Yadav (78), Rohit Sharma (36), and Tilak Varma (34*) provided useful contributions for the visiting side in the batting department. Harshal Patel (3/31) and Sam Curran (2/41) were among the wickets for the home team.
PBKS top order then collapsed meekly to 14/4 in the steep chase and looked in a dire state. Shashank Singh (41) played a cameo for a while but could not play a big knock as Jasprit Bumrah sent him back to the pavilion in the 13th over. After reducing Punjab Kings to 111/7, MI were in the driver's seat.
Ashutosh Sharma played a sensational knock of 61 (28) and single-handedly brought his side back into the contest. His valiant performance helped bring down the equation to 28 runs from the last four overs.
However, Ashutosh Sharma departed in the 18th over without finishing the job after setting up the platform for a win. MI bowlers then held their nerve in the last few overs and restricted PBKS to 183 in 19.1 overs.
Fans on social media enjoyed the thrilling contest between MI and PBKS on Thursday night in IPL 2024. They expressed their reactions to the action by sharing hilarious memes on social media.
Here are some of the best memes related to the game:
"A very good game of cricket"- MI captain Hardik Pandya after victory against PBKS in IPL 2024
At the post-match presentation, MI skipper Hardik Pandya reflected on the hard-fought win against PBKS and said:
"A very good game of cricket. Everyone's nerve was tested. The characters were going to be checked this game, and that was what happened. (At 14/4) It's natural that you think you're ahead, but the IPL has tendency to produce games where the opposition can make a comeback. This was exactly like that. The way the two batters batted for them was fantastic.
On areas to improve for his side, Hardik continued:
"We spoke at the time-out that it does not matter how good we look, we'll make sure we'll keep scrapping and fighting in this game. Lot of areas in the bowling we can look and say we can't give those soft balls. We were quite soft in certain departments and overs, and that kind of cost us to go this far. Nevertheless, a win is a win."
LSG will face CSK in the next match of IPL 2024 on Friday at the Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow.
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