By K Aditya
Abu Dhabi, Sep 28 (UNI) Following a sturdy bowling effort by Mumbai Indians bowling unit, Punjab Kings could only post a below-par 135/6 on the board in the first innings of match 42 of IPL 2021 here on Tuesday.
Jasprit Bumrah and Kieron Pollard starred with two wickets each while spinners Krunal Pandya (1/24) and Rahul Chahar (1/27) chipped in their bit as well. For PBKS, Aiden Markram (42 runs) and Deepak Hooda (28) gave something to fight for after a top-order collapse.
Sent in to bat first, PBKS had to tweak its opening pair as KL Rahul saw a new partner in Mandeep Singh with Mayank Agarwal declared unfit. The new pairing added 36 runs for the first wicket, laced with four boundaries before Krunal Pandya picked the scalp of Singh (15 off 14) in the sixth over.
The dismissal triggered a top-order collapse with the next three wickets falling in a space of 12 runs. Two of the dismissal came in the seventh over when Kieron Pollard had fellow West Indian Chris Gayle (1 off 4) at long-on, followed by a big scalp of Rahul (21 off 22).
Further trouble found the Northern outfit in the next over when Jasprit Bumrah trapped Nicholas Pooran (2 off 3) lbw with PBKS scoreboard reading 48/4.
With two new batsmen in the middle, PBKS did manage to pull themselves out of chaos despite MI bowlers coming hard at them. Aiden Markram, who has had a good start in the season earlier but failed to capitalize on them, looked in great touch and struck three boundaries in the next three overs.
This allowed Hooda to settle down on the other end with the duo firing the side past 100 by the 15th over. Markram, being the aggressor, shot six boundaries during the 61-run stand while Hooda shot a solitary six.
However, things took a turn for worse again as Markram got bowled by Rahul Chahar in the 15th over after scoring 42 runs in 29 balls. Upon his dismissal, no boundaries came off a PBKS bat in the remaining 22 delivery as MI pacers tightened the screw on Deepak Hooda and PBKS tailenders; giving away just 27 runs.
Hooda finally fell to Bumrah in the final over off a wild swing of the bat in the 19th over as PBKS posted 135/6. Harpreet Brar (14 off 16) Nathan Ellis (6 off 4) remained not out at the end.
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