Dominating Punjab Kings too good for ordinary Mumbai Indians
MI – 195/6 (Quinton De Kock 112, Arshdeep Singh 22/3) lost to PBKS – 198/3 in 16.3 overs (Prabhsimran Singh 80 off 39 balls, Shreyas Iyer 66 off 35 balls) by 7 wickets
Man of the Match: Arshdeep Singh
MI put up an average batting performance, and their misfiring bowling was unable to prevent a marauding PBKS batting lineup from reaching the top of the table, the only team still unbeaten in the 24th match of IPL 2026. PBKS won by 7 wickets with 3.3 overs remaining, led by a resurgent Arshdeep Singh, who took 22/3 and a wonderful batting performance from Prabhsimran Singh and Shreyas Iyer.
PBKS win the battle of lefties in the power play
Arshdeep has been quite listless since the beginning of this edition of the IPL. In fact, he has been struggling with his length and line since the later stages of the T20 World Cup earlier this year. But with the pitch assisting seam and swing, he was back at his brilliant best. He beat Ryan Rickleton’s bat three times in the first over and only gave away one run. With Rohit Sharma out injured, Quinton de Kock joined Rickleton in opening the batting. With two left-handed batsmen at the crease, Jansen bowled the second over instead of Bartlett, making both the opening batsmen and bowlers left-handed.
The match turned in Arshdeep’s second over. A legside ball was hit by Rickleton straight backward square leg, the only man stationed on the leg side. Second ball, a ball seaming across the batsman had Suryakumar edging to short third for a first-ball duck. MI were 12/2 in the third over. The fifth over, Jansen got Naman Dhir playing an awkward-looking scoop straight to short leg, where Chahal shelled a dolly. Some Punjab Kings fans had started celebrating immediately once the ball was in the air and continued to do so, but had to be told by their mates to calm down. Maybe it was the lights, but Chahal turned his face away just at the time the ball came to him, which fell somewhere near his lap and rolled away. For youngsters watching, this is exactly the way it shouldn’t be done. MI had just escaped digging a bigger hole for themselves.
The MI fightback
Shreyas Iyer had a great opportunity to run out De Kock as he was left stranded in the middle of the pitch due to a miscommunication with Naman, but could not affect a direct hit. The batsmen then decided to break free from the funk that MI had found themselves in. A short ball from Jansen was flat-batted for four over mid-off by De Kock. Vyshak, who bowled the last over of the powerplay, was taken for 15 runs by Naman. Chahal himself leaked 19 in his first over as Naman hit him for a straight six, and later De Kock got the measure of him. De Kock played some delightful shots on the offside, especially against the pacers, but was more brutal on the leg. He repeatedly hit Chahal for big hits near cow corner or deep midwicket area. He duly completed his 50 off 28 balls.
Naman Dhir was also batting confidently at the other end. An inside-out shot off Chahal may have been the shot of the innings as the ball easily cleared the boundary for a six. Soon, Naman got to his 50 off 29 balls, and MI were up and running. The pair had added 120-odd runs at a quick rate, and the team score read 132/2 off 13 overs. With wickets in hand, MI would surely have fancied themselves scoring at least 220 plus.
PBKS bowlers slow down MI, and Shreyas Iyer’s remarkable fielding
Like the previous match vs SRH, Shreyas Iyer brought Shashank Singh to roll his arm over to offer something different to the batsmen and see how they react. Immediately, De Kock mishit one high, and the ball landed safely. Just two balls later, Naman flat-batted a length ball straight to long off, where Bartlett initially misjudged the ball and started coming forward, only to stop, backpedal a bit and time his jump to perfection to complete a very good catch.
Hardik Pandya came next and struggled with his timing as the PBKS bowlers started varying their pace and length, making sure to keep the ball away from his hitting area. A short ball from Jansen was swung hard straight over long off for a six. Two balls later, a slightly wider ball was also given the same treatment, but the wide line took away some of the power from the shot. It looked for all money to be going over the ropes, but Shreyas Iyer put in a spectacular fielding effort to first catch the ball, then acrobatically release it with accuracy towards Bartlett for a relayed catch, and then fell over the ropes. It was all done just in front of the MI dugout, with Suryakumar looking on in amazement, and Rohit asking, “What just happened?” The effort encapsulated PBKS’ performance this season, and Shreyas was pumped.
At the other end, De Kock was playing like a dream. He started swinging and connecting some lusty blows off the pacers. A Shashank length ball was bludgeoned straight over long off for six, and the very next ball, a similar ball was clubbed high over deep square leg for another big six. He got to his century off 53 balls, hitting an innovative dab off Bartlett past a diving short third man. He finished with an unbeaten 112 off 60 balls.
Rutherford came next and had the misfortune of having to face five pinpoint yorkers from the PBKS pacers and was out bowled by Arshdeep for 1 off 5 deliveries. Tilak Verma had two good hits to be dismissed for 8 off 5, and MI finished on 195, which looked around 20-25 runs below par, considering the dew that would come in.
PBKS start aggressively
The opening pair of PBKS is one of the reasons that the team has done so well this and also last season. The start did not disappoint. Deepak Chahar was taken for 21 off the first over, with Prabhsimran hitting down the ground for two boundaries and Priyansh hitting over the top for a boundary and a six. Ghazanfar was introduced in the third over, and he immediately struck. A full ball was hit straight to midwicket, and Priyansh was gone for 15 off 9 balls.
Next over, Hardik Pandya, bowled a short and wide ball which was slapped by Prabhsimran directly to Bumrah at backward point, who jumped to his left and dropped an easy catch. The remaining of the over was taken for 12 runs by Connolly, who was batting well. A wonderful pickup shot on the leg for a comfortable six over long leg, later, he was caught behind off Ghazanfar, getting a faint tickle to the keeper. Shreyas Iyer came in next and opened his account with a delightful cover drive for a four.
The batsmen were aware of the required run rate and never let it get out of hand. Shreyas initially fed the strike to Prabhsimran, who was well set and was playing a mature innings. Dew was setting in, and the MI fielding was getting ragged. Prabhsimran was playing all around the wicket. He stepped out to Chahar and hit him for a massive six over long off and played square both on the off and leg side to shorter balls. Playing to the field, he also played some deft shots behind the keeper. He reached his 50 off 23 balls, yet played mostly a very controlled innings, giving nothing away, apart from the earlier drop. The score was 100/2 in 10 overs, and PBKS were looking good, while MI’s bowling was increasingly toothless. Their attack depends a lot on Bumrah, who has not been at his usual best this season, and this has severely impacted their recent performance.
Shreyas take the attack to the bowlers
Playing well within himself, Shreyas, then on 21 off 18 balls, announced his intention in the eleventh over from Shardul Thakur. A length wide ball was clobbered over deep extra cover for a huge six. Thirteenth over, a short Bumrah delivery was hit for a six over deep midwicket and a couple of boundaries again in his next over. In an eventful 16th over, Shardul Thakur was unlucky as Naman Dhir, who, in addition to having dropped Shreyas at the deep midwicket boundary, also missed the ball completely to concede a six. Next ball of the over, a full ball on the leg was again smashed over long on for a six. The third ball was hit again towards Dhir, who had to dive forward to complete a very good catch. By that time, Shreyas Iyer had scored 66 off 35 balls, and PBKS needed only 12 more runs to win. Prabhsimran remained unbeaten on 80 off 39 balls, and next man Stonis completed the victory with a couple of boundaries off Chahar in the 17th over.
MI really need to think deeply about their team composition in the coming weeks. The batting has done well on occasions and has the potential for a better performance, but the bowling is a big cause for concern, and it is difficult to see any readymade solution to the problem that was visible much before the tournament started.