Everyone's nerves got tested: Hardik Pandya following close game against PBKS

Brilliant bowling performances by Jasprit Bumrah and Gerald Coetzee guided the Mumbai Indians (MI) to a 9-run victory over the Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the 33rd encounter of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024, here at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur, Chandigarh, on Thursday.

Pandya lauded the young PBKS batter, Ashutosh Sharma, following his marvellous innings. Ashutosh scored 61 runs in just 28 balls, which was laced with seven sixes and two fours in his innings. He scored runs at a strike rate of 217.86.

"Very good game. Everyone's nerves got tested. We spoke that the characters will be checked in this game. But naturally, you think you are ahead but you know IPL tends to show that opposition can come back and how! [Ashutosh] Unbelievable, playing the way he did and hitting the ball off the middle. Great for his future. We did speak in the timeout about it is not about how we look, we will keep fighting. Make sure we don't ball the soft-balls. Batsmen played good shots but we were soft in certain overs," Pandya said in the post-match presentation.

Recapping the match, Punjab Kings sent Mumbai Indians to bat first. Following that a fiery knock from Suryakumar (78) propeled MI to 192/7. Apart from SKY, Rohit Sharma (36) and Tilak Varma (34) played a pivotal role in the inning and helped MI to add valuable runs on the scoreboard.

Meanwhile, Harshal Patel led the Punjab Kings bowling attack after he bagged three wickets. Skipper Sam Curran took two wickets, on the other hand.

During the run chase, Ashutosh (61) and Shashank Singh (41) were the standout batters for the hosts and tried to take Punjab closer to the target. However, Gerald Coetzee and Jasprit Bumrah's three wicket haul helped MI successfully defend their target.

Bumrah was named the 'Player of the Match' after he picked up three wickets and gave 21 runs in his four-over spell. (ANI)