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The Mumbai Indians (MI) and the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) faced off in Match 36 of the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2020).
For perhaps the first time in IPL 2020, the defending champions got off to a poor start. Captain Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan were all dismissed with less than 40 runs on the board, leaving Quinton de Kock and Krunal Pandya to steady the ship.
The southpaws did brilliantly, attacking the KXIP bowlers fearlessly and taking the score to 96/3. Ravi Bishnoi scalped the wicket of Krunal, and the other Pandya brother also walked back to the hut a few balls later. De Kock followed the duo to the pavilion as well, leaving MI with the difficult task of reaching a par score from the final 3 overs.
A brilliant exhibition of hitting transpired in those overs, with Kieron Pollard and Nathan Coulter-Nile picking apart the KXIP bowling to all corners of the ground. MI finished on 176/6 in their 20 overs, with Mohammed Shami and Arshdeep Singh scalping 2 wickets each.
In reply, KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal started off as solidly as ever, before the latter's dismissal brought the in-form Chris Gayle to the crease. Rahul and Gayle took KXIP to a comfortable 75/1, and although the big West Indian fell to Rahul Chahar, Nicholas Pooran carried on from where his countryman left off.
Jasprit Bumrah once again delivered for MI by dismissing Pooran after an enterprising cameo, and to no one's surprise, Glenn Maxwell's nightmare IPL 2020 continued. The onus, therefore, once again fell on Rahul to take his team over the line.
MI's spearhead once again pulled off the impossible, castling Rahul with a pinpoint yorker. The game eventually went down to the final over, and with 2 runs needed off the last ball, Chris Jordan was found short of his ground by inches after taking a bizarre circular second run.
The game went to a Super Over, with a brilliant six balls from Jasprit Bumrah leaving MI with just 6 runs to get. However, Mohammed Shami matched his Indian teammate's exceptional death bowling with a perfect over of his own against Rohit Sharma and Quinton De Kock, with the South African short of his ground off the final ball on this occasion.
For the first time ever in IPL history, the Super Over was tied, and according to the new rules, the second Super Over was played out. Given that players who had been dismissed and bowlers who had bowled in the previous Super Over weren't allowed, Kieron Pollard gave MI a respectable 11 to defend.
Trent Boult steamed in, but the Universe Boss Chris Gayle hit a massive six off the first ball, followed by consecutive boundaries from Mayank Agarwal, who also made a brilliant save on the boundary off the final ball of the MI innings of the second Super Over.
In the end, KXIP edged MI in what was undoubtedly one of the greatest IPL games of all time - perhaps even the greatest.
Click here to see IPL standings 2020.
Twitter had a lot to say, and here are the best reactions from the MI vs KXIP IPL 2020 game.
Twitter reacts to IPL 2020, MI vs KXIP
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