The Indian Premier League (IPL) celebrated its 16th anniversary on Saturday, May 11, at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium. The Mumbai Indians defeated the Punjab Kings by nine runs, providing one of the most spectacular narratives in the history of T20 cricket. Ashutosh Sharma and Harpreet Brar, taking advantage of Akash Madhwal’s longer lengths in the 10-ball 16th over, threatened to reverse the tide of the match after the top and middle-order were destroyed. Mumbai lost 24 runs in the over, leaving Punjab need a manageable 28 from four overs.
With only one over remaining, Jasprit Bumrah and the other player dutifully rode it out with three singles.
However, Ashutosh’s subsequent change in pace saw him pull Gerald Coetzee’s opening delivery of the next over straight to deep midwicket. When Punjab needed 12 runs off the second ball of the final over and Kagiso Rabada was run out, fate offered Madhwal another chance and aided him.
The untested Indian pair was once again forced to do the heavy lifting as Ashutosh nearly carried Punjab over the finish line and Shashank Singh gave the home team hope with a 25-ball 41 when they were down to 14 for four.
Even though the game fluctuated, Punjab’s batting problems remained, and things became worse when Jasprit Bumrah took two wickets in his opening over, dismissing Sam Curran and Rilee Roussou.