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IPL 2018: Mumbai Indians script another comeback story

When you talk about famous comebacks in the Indian Premier League, Mumbai Indians will always pop into your head. They followed a trend of making late surges to qualify for the playoffs each year, but while most thought it wasn’t possible this year, they’ve kept the dream alive, winning four of their last five matches.

Last night, the Wankhede was buzzing as Mumbai was put in to bat by Kings XI Punjab. After a decent opening stand of 37, they lost the plot for a bit and landed themselves at 71/4, with both the KPs, Krunal Pandya and Kieron Pollard at the crease. Pollard was dropped for the last few games but was given another chance, and he wasn’t going to miss out on this opportunity.

He scored 50(23) balls, his first useful contribution of the season and it took Mumbai up to a strong total of 186/8, helped by 32(23) by the elder Pandya brother, Krunal. Punjab captain Ravichandran Ashwin bowled well for his 2/18 while Andrew Tye was the wrecker-in-chief once again, picking up 4/16 and taking his tournament tally to 24 wickets, which no one else may reach this season.

It was going to be a tough chase, but it wasn’t impossible, especially after a 111-run partnership for the 2nd wicket, between Aaron Finch and KL Rahul. Finch finally spent some time at the crease in his knock of 46 while Rahul continued his sublime form in IPL 2018, scoring 94(60) and taking his tournament tally to 652 runs.

However, when he was dismissed, Punjab were left to get 20 in just 9 balls, with Axar Patel and Yuvraj Singh at the crease. Sending Yuvi down the order after everyone else was not the best of ideas from the KXIP think tank and he just managed to score 1. Ultimately, Bumrah’s crucial 19th over gave away just 6 runs and Mumbai won the match by 3 runs, moving into the top four on the points table. Man of the Match: Jasprit Bumrah – 3/15.

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