Rohit, Krunal blitz keeps Mumbai Indians alive

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Mumbai Indians 176 for 4 (Suryakumar 51, Krunal 31*, Rohit 24*) beat Kings XI Punjab 174 for 6 (Gayle 50, Stoinis 29*, Bumrah 1-19) by six wickets

Rohit Sharma and Krunal Pandya put up a match-winning 56-run stand BCCI

Mumbai Indians are on a cliff edge, but not yet weak enough to be pushed off just yet. Rohit Sharma and Krunal Pandya's unbeaten 56-run stand off 21 deliveries helped them chase down 175 with four balls to spare, after Kings XI Punjab had the upper hand for the most part of the game.

Needing 50 off four overs, Ashwin threw the ball to Afghanistan spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman, who had picked up two wickets and caused Mumbai's batsmen much trouble. Rohit responded by hitting him for two sixes. The floodgates truly opened when Marcus Stoinis missed his lengths in the next over as Krunal got stuck in to take 20. This brought the target within touching distance, with four leg byes off a missed heave sealing Mumbai's third win in nine matches.

The Gayle-Rahul party continues

Mumbai had a plan for Chris Gayle: to hit hard lengths, target his rib cage, and not give him anything full or wide in his hitting arc. Gayle had scored one off eight balls as a result. His fluency was missing and KL Rahul, who began with a sparkling inside-out six over extra cover off Mitchell McClenaghan, was denied strike. But by hitting Hardik Pandya for three fours in the fourth over, Gayle caught up to get Kings XI going again. His hoist of McClenaghan for a 92-metre six that cleared the roofs at deep square-leg marked his arrival.

Kings XI had averaged 59 in the Powerplay coming into this game. They were slower today - 49 for 0 - but the openers eventually brought up their fifth fifty-plus partnership of the season. They were soon separated, though, when Rahul picked out JP Duminy at deep midwicket off Mayank Markande's half-tracker in the seventh over.

Yuvraj continues to struggle

Yuvraj's Smart Strike Rate of 40.32 was the poorest among 51 batsmen who have faced at least 50 balls this season. He started slowly again after being promoted to No. 3, making just five off his first nine balls. Yuvraj then smacked Krunal for six over deep midwicket, but that was the only highlight of another rusty effort as he was run out after a second mix-up with Karun Nair. Yuvraj's efforts: a run-a-ball 14, taking his season's tally to 34 in six innings. The move to drop Manoj Tiwary after just one game looking even more baffling.

Mumbai's poor finish

Jasprit Bumrah was superb in the Powerplay, and superb in the death; his figures of 4-0-19-1 were his best so far this season. But Mumbai still did not get the finish they wanted. After restricting Kings XI to 135 for 5, they conceded 39 off the last three overs. Two nights ago in Bengaluru, their final over, bowled by McClenaghan, went for 24. Here, Marcus Stoinis scored 21 off the last over, from Hardik. Stoinis finished with 29 off 15 and Kings XI had momentum, even though they may have been 20 runs short.

Kings XI use spin upfront

While Mumbai bowled only five overs of spin, Kings XI bowled those many in the first eight overs. R Ashwin, who kept Evin Lewis and Ishan Kishan quiet, bowled three. Then Mujeeb struck with his fourth delivery in the sixth over, when Lewis nicked a skidder to Rahul. Ashwin eventually bowled out by the 11th over, with Mumbai needing 99 off 54. Suryakumar Yadav scored a quick half-century even as a watchful Kishan, trying to overcome a slump of three ducks in five innings, played himself in. When it got to a point where they had to go, Suryakumar fell to an ugly hoick.

Rohit's batting position

Yuvraj batting at No. 3 and Axar Patel at No. 5 weren't the only surprises of the night. Mumbai played Hardik at No. 4 ahead of Rohit, who had smashed 118 off 43 against Sri Lanka in his previous T20I in Indore. On Friday, Rohit came in at No. 5 after Kishan fell, with Mumbai needing 75 off 42.

Hardik's 13-ball 23 ensured Mumbai kept up with the asking rate, but his dismissal brought Krunal to the crease. And then Kings XI lost their lengths. Stoinis, playing in place of Aaron Finch, bowled three slower length balls and a full toss to concede three fours and a six in the 17th over, as Krunal used the depth of the crease on a true surface and found the leg-side boundary. He finished on 31 off 12 balls, Rohit on 24 off 15, and Mumbai had six points, same as the three teams below them in the league.

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Rohit Sharma, Krunal Pandya blitz keep Mumbai Indians alive | Cricket

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Mumbai Indians 176 for 4 (Suryakumar 51, Krunal 31*, Rohit 24*) beat Kings XI Punjab 174 for 6 (Gayle 50, Stoinis 29*, Bumrah 1-19) by six wickets

Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details

© BCCI

Mumbai Indians are on the edge, but not yet ready to be pushed off the cliff just yet. Rohit Sharma and Krunal Pandya's unbeaten 56-run stand off just 21 deliveries helped them pull off a 175 chase with four balls to spare, after Kings XI Punjab had the upper hand for most parts.

Needing 50 off four overs, Ashwin threw the ball to Mujeeb Ur Rahman, who had picked up two wickets and caused Mumbai's batsmen much trouble. Rohit responded by hitting him for two sixes. The floodgates truly opened when Andrew Tye missed his lengths in the next over as Krunal got stuck in to take 20. This brought the chase within touching distance, with four leg byes off a missed heave delivering their third win in nine matches.

Gayle-Rahul party continues

On Friday, Mumbai came up with a clear plan against Chris Gayle: to hit hard lengths, target his rib cage and not give him any width to swing or bowl full in his hitting arc. This left Gayle on one off eight balls at one stage. The fluency was missing, the timing was off and KL Rahul, who began with a sparkling inside-out six over extra cover off Mitchell McClenaghan was denied strike. But in hitting Hardik Pandya for three fours in the fourth over, Gayle caught up to get Kings XI back up again. His hoisting of Mitchell McClenaghan for a 92-metre six that cleared the roofs at deep square leg marked his arrival.

Kings XI averaged 59 in the Powerplay coming into this game. Here, they were only marginally slower: 49 for 0, but considering how dangerous the pair have been so far - four fifty-plus opening stands coming into the game - they would've taken it. They brought up their fifth fifty-plus score, but were soon separated when Rahul picked out JP Duminy at deep midwicket off Mayank Markande's half-tracker in the seventh over.

No end to Yuvraj's struggle

Yuvraj's Smart Strike Rate of 40.32 this season was the poorest among 51 batsmen who've faced at least 50 balls this season. He started slowly again after being promoted to No. 3, making just five off the first nine balls he faced. Then he smacked Krunal, perhaps held back to negate the Gayle effect, for six over deep midwicket, but that was the highlight in another rusty effort as he was run-out after a second mix-up with Karun Nair. Yuvraj's efforts: a run-a-ball 14, taking his season's tally to 34 runs in six innings, the move to drop Manoj Tiwary after just one game looking even more baffling.

Mumbai's poor finish

Jasprit Bumrah was superb in the Powerplay, superb in the death; his figures of 4-0-19-1 his best so far this season. But that didn't translate into the finish Mumbai would've wanted. After strangulating Kings XI to 135 for 5, they conceded 39 off the last three. Two nights ago in Bengaluru, their final over, bowled by McClenaghan, went for 24. Here, Marcus Stoinis took the final over by Hardik for 21. He finished with 29 off 15 as Kings XI had momentum, even if they may have felt 20 lighter.

Kings XI go spin upfront

Where Mumbai bowled all of five overs of spin, Kings XI bowled those many in the first eight itself. R Ashwin, who kept Evin Lewis and Ishan Kishan quiet, bowled three of those. Then Mujeeb struck off his fourth delivery in the sixth over when Lewis nicked a skidder to Rahul. Kings XI had a tight lid on the runs. Ashwin eventually bowled out by the 11th, with Mumbai needing 99 off 54. Suryakumar Yadav held fort to construct a quick half-century, even as a watchful Kishan, trying to overcome a mini-slump after three ducks in five innings, played himself in. When it got to a point where they had to go, Suryakumar fell to an ugly hoick with Rahul taking a swirler to mount pressure.

More to follow

Shashank Kishore is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo

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ESPN Sports Media Ltd.

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Rohit Sharma stops Mumbai's freefall with match-winning fifty | Cricket

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Mumbai Indians 170 for 2 (Rohit 56*, Lewis 47) beat Chennai Super Kings 169 for 5 (Raina 75*, Rayudu 46, McClenaghan 2-26) by eight wickets

Rohit Sharma clobbers one off the middle of the bat © BCCI

Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma promoted himself to No. 3 to guide his team to an eight-wicket win against Chennai Super Kings, after walking in with a required rate at ten per over on a two-paced pitch. Rohit's well-paced, and unbeaten, half-century first took the pressure off a struggling Evin Lewis and then sealed a chase of 170 in comfortable fashion.

Earlier in the game, Mumbai had fought back after the tournament-leader for runs, Ambati Rayudu, and Suresh Raina, had set Super Kings up for a massive total at 91 for 1 in ten overs. The innings then spiralled downwards and even a late flourish from Raina, who was unbeaten on 75, couldn't get them enough on the evening.

Mumbai's changes

Mumbai had persisted with more or less the same team for each of their six games before Saturday. When they did decide to make changes, it didn't seem like too much would change. There was a good chance that the replacements - JP Duminy for Kieron Pollard and Ben Cutting for Mustafizur Rahman - wouldn't have prominent roles to play if a successful top order remained true to form.

This was doubly true for Cutting, who, despite replacing a specialist bowler, bowled only one over. Super Kings batsmen Rayudu and Raina took him for 14 and brought up a fifty-run stand for the second wicket.

Super Kings lose momentum

Shane Watson had fallen to Pawan Negi in the first over against Royal Challengers on Wednesday. Mumbai waited till the fifth over to bring on their left-arm spinner, but Krunal Pandya's introduction worked immediately as he induced a slice from Watson that was caught at square leg.

Before that, there was bounce early on that Jasprit Bumrah used to subdue Rayudu and was taken out of the attack, perhaps in a bid to preserve him for MS Dhoni and Dwayne Bravo later in the innings. So Hardik Pandya was given the ball in the Powerplay, despite an economy rate of 10.4 at this stage of an innings in the IPL. He was actually doing well, compensating for the absence of Mustafizur, until Rayudu took 10 runs off his last two deliveries and suddenly Super Kings were 51 for 1 in six overs.

Raina looked more fluent than he has ever been this season, kickstarting his innings with a slog over deep midwicket off the second ball he faced. Mumbai went after him with short ball. At one point, they had short third man, gully and backward point in place but the lines weren't right. Raina struck two boundaries past short fine, and made a comfortable six runs off three balls square on the off side. The rest of the time, he monopolised his favoured areas on the leg side, making 38 of his 75 at long-on and deep midwicket.

However, he seemed to lose his way. His scoring rate through the middle-overs fell to 138 after the high of 182 at the end of the 10th over. The team began to falter as well and when McClenaghan took out Dhoni and Bravo in the space of three balls, all hopes of a big finish were lost. Having been 91 for 1 at the end of 10 overs, Super Kings could manage only 169 for 5. Bumrah and McClenaghan conceded just 51 runs in their eight overs.

Rohit shows up

Lewis was dismissed for a duck by Deepak Chahar when these teams last played, but the head-to-head tonight lasted only one ball with the seamer walking off the field in the fifth over. At the post-match press conference, CSK coach Stephen Fleming confirmed that Chahar had suffered a hamstring injury and would be out for at least two weeks.

Lewis' struggle continued even as partner Suryakumar Yadav put his rich form to good use. When their lopsided opening stand of 69 ended through a brilliant take from Ravindra Jadeja at deep midwicket, Lewis was 21 off 26. Although a couple of swats against Imran Tahir got his scoring rate up, the opener's stay was a troubled one.

That it didn't hurt Mumbai was down to Rohit's performance. His one-handed six at long-off, off Watson's first ball in the 14th over, was the beginning of the phase where the required rate fell below nine. A couple of balls later, he showed that he would control the rest of the chase, getting down to scoop a full ball over fine leg for another six.

All of his boundaries from that point onwards showed a tremendous awareness of the field. A pull over square leg off Bravo, a lofted drive against Watson in the 18th set up for the big 19th over, with Mumbai needing 22 off 12.

At this juncture, Dhoni chose to change Bravo, whose 17th had gone for five, and handed the ball to Shardul Thakur. The bowler nailed only one yorker, the one that got Rohit back on strike. His attempted yorkers then flew over point, two went over square leg and the change-up length ball was expertly dabbed between short third man and point.

With that 17-run over, during which he brought up his fifty, Rohit made sure Mumbai didn't finish the weekend at the bottom of the table.

Varun Shetty is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo

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