Mumbai Indians (MI) got the better of the Punjab Kings (PBKS) by six wickets at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamsala on Thursday, May 14.
The five-time champions won the toss, with Jasprit Bumrah being the stand-in skipper. PBKS was asked to bat first, and Prabhsimran Singh got his team off to a great start. Priyansh Arya, however, struggled to find his timing.
After Arya was dismissed by a clever slower ball from Deepak Chahar, Prabhsimran and Cooper Connolly forged a 57-run stand off 35 balls. However, MI bounced back incredibly, with Shardul Thakur having a field day. The veteran all-rounder bagged four wickets through the middle overs, while his fellow bowlers also chipped in with timely breakthroughs.
From 107/1, PBKS slipped to 140/7. Azmatullah Omarzai smashed 38 off just 17 balls to give the home side hopes of a resurgence. Later in the innings, Vishnu Vinod and Xavier Bartlett hit some lusty blows to take their team to 200/8.
In reply, MI got off to a blistering start thanks to Ryan Rickelton. Rohit Sharma hit two sixes but wasn’t at his fluent best. PBKS looked rattled after MI’s quick start, but they bounced back with three quick wickets.
However, Tilak Varma stood between PBKS’ win. The southpaw forged 61 and 56-run stands with Sherfane Rutherford and Will Jacks. While Rutherford made 20 off 21 balls, Jacks was unbeaten on 25 off 10. However, the star of the show was Tilak, who made 75* off 33 deliveries.
MI needed 15 runs off the last over. Jacks started with a six before Tilak belted two more to take his team home with a ball to spare.
Talking Points:
1) Tilak Varma reigns supreme
Virat Kohli was put down when he was batting on 21. Rovman Powell, who has fielded brilliantly so far, put down a tough chance. The 37-year-old made him and KKR pay with a phenomenal display of batting. He is called ‘Chase Master’ for a reason. Kohli remained unbeaten on 105 off 60 balls, hitting 11 fours and three sixes.
2) Shardul Thakur still has the golden arm
Angkrish Raghuvanshi brought up his fourth fifty in IPL 2026 and his highest score in the cash-rich league. In 46 balls, he scored 71 runs with the help of seven fours and three sixes. The right-handed batter mixed caution with aggression and held the innings together for the Knights. Most of his shots were elegant and very pleasing to the eye.
3) Punjab slump to fifth straight loss
PBKS had a phenomenal start to the season, winning six out of their first seven games. However, the tables have turned drastically, with the Shreyas Iyer-led side losing five matches in a row. The fact that Iyer isn’t winning tosses is hurting PBKS. However, more than that, they look like a team that has lost its mojo and self-belief. They need to turn things around on Sunday, as they face the Royal Challengers Bengaluru in a repeat of last year’s final.
Who said what?
Shreyas Iyer, Punjab Kings (Losing Captain)
(On the loss tonight) Well, absolutely a tough pill to swallow, but I don’t want to pinpoint at any situation over here because it was a great game of cricket. Well fought game. He (Tilak) played amazing, he was selecting his shots pretty well, and he maneuvered the field nicely, so credit to him. (On Azmat) Certainly, at a point, we were looking at around 170 to 180, and from there on, he simply changed the momentum towards us. Getting those scoops of sixes, and from 16th or 17th over, from there on, we gained the momentum and getting to 200 was a commendable performance for him. (Taking on RCB in a day game?) Definitely excited for the next opportunity. It’s an afternoon game, and we’ve got to win two out of two. It’s going to be an exciting two games. Can’t wait to play them.
Jasprit Bumrah, Mumbai Indians (Winning Captain)
(Winning start as captain) Yeah, one from one. But yeah, it was a good game of cricket. Both teams played some good cricket. We really pulled (it) back well after a decent start. Little bit of a slip-up in the end when we dropped a few catches, but apparently, it looks like bowling in the end has become more difficult now (smiles). (Did you make plans based on the last match here?) Little bit, but the wicket in this game looked a little bit drier than the previous one. The previous game had a little more pace by the looks of it. And initially when we bowled, the ball was holding up and staying a little low. So I think maybe it’s not as full as it was last game today. So that made me to have a decision that we took. But we were pretty clear in what we wanted to do though. (Plan to bowl pace off and cross-seam attacking the stumps?) Yeah, that was the plan that was discussed that, whatever we saw in the previous game as well and reading the game, that holding your length is the key. Because if you try to bowl too short or too full, because of the altitude, the ball just flies. So even if after getting hit off a good ball, you try to back that and make them hit good shots. So that was the plan and credit to all the bowlers. They executed it and kept their nerves as well. (What was the turning point?) I think Tilak’s knock and the way Shardul bowled, both of them deserve equal amount of credit. And the way Tilak held his nerve. Sometimes wickets around him going, people not being able to contribute, but he kept his shape, kept his belief, finished the game and Jacksy (Will Jacks) coming in. Yeah, it’s a small contribution, but when that has a big impact on a T20 game. So yeah, really happy. Everybody contributed. That’s what we want. (Experience as captain of MI) Yeah, first game, like I said, I’ve captained a Test match. I’ve captained T20Is. Now the only game that is left is ODI cricket. But I don’t see that happening (laughs), but jokes apart. Really happy. I had good fun, good weather, great ground. So enjoyed my time.
Tilak Varma, Player of the Match
To be honest, I do like to finish games, but having played the WC and some international games, I’ve come to know how to finish the games. We didn’t expect the wicket to be like this, the ball was slow and low, it wasn’t easy to play shots. We saw how PBKS struggled in the first 15 overs, them Azamatullah and Vishnu Vinod took them to a good score. I thought I would take the game deep. I spoke to the coach at the second break; I just needed one big over and I could finish the game. Will’s innings helped finish the game, I just told him to hold shape and hold the shape. Just wait for the slower one, the altitude here helps the ball fly and you don’t need to blindly slog. I just told him to maintain his shape and watch out for the slower ones.
