New Delhi: Punjab Kings’ heroic chase went in vain as Mumbai Indians managed to snatch a 9-run win over the hosts in the Indian Premier League 2024 clash on Thursday. Chasing 193, the Kings came agonisingly close to the target with a stunning show from Ashutosh Sharma after their top-order was blown away by the MI bowlers but at the end, luck turned in favour of the Hardik Pandya-led side.

Young sensation Ashutosh (61 off 28 balls) smashed his maiden half-century in the league as the eight-down batter pushed the MI bowlers against the wall for quite sometime. He smashed 7 maximums and 2 boundaries enroute to his sensational half-ton but could not take the side home as his remarkable innings was cut short by Gerald Coetzee.

Harpreet Brar too joined the party with 20-21 run-knock as things seemed difficult for the MI side in the death overs. But after the dismissal of both the players, MI breathed a sigh of relief till Kagiso Rabada smashed 8 runs off 3 balls turning the game in the favour of the Kings again. The Proteas pacer got run out attempting a fast single and Harshal Patel too followed his footsteps soon after to help MI win the battle with 9 runs and 5 balls to spare.

For Mumbai, Jasprit Bumrah and Coetzee were the pick of the bowlers picking three wickets apiece to rattle the first four batters of the Kings. Akash Madhwa, skipper Pandya and Shreyas Gopal too chipped in a wicket each as MI climbed a spot up in the points table.

Earlier, Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma produced gritty knocks on a sluggish wicket to fire MI to a competitive total. The T20 specialist found his rhythm after a slow start to finish with 78 off 53 balls whereas left-handed Varma hit some lusty blows on the leg side to make 34 off a mere 18 balls. Up the order, Rohit Sharma too played a good knock of 36 runs but could not covert it into a big one as his innings was cut short by Sam Curran.

Towards the end, Tim David blasted a seven-ball 14 to provide the visitors with late impetus. For PBKS, Harshal Patel was the pick of the bowlers with three wickets while skipper Curran took two wickets. Proteas pacer Kagiso Rabada too chipped in with a wicket.