STATS HIGHLIGHTS
Follow UsThe trend of winning through a chase is intact at the Maharashtra Cricket Association, Pune. In all the three matches played at the venue, teams have won the toss and chose to field and have won in all three.
An out of the box innings
The only question that arises from Pat Cummins' innings against Mumbai is “Just how?”. There are few innings in the IPL that blows off everyone and Cummins innings was one of those.
Cummins came into bat in the 13th over when Kolkata required 61 runs off 41 balls. The margin isn’t that big, but with bowlers like Jasprit Bumrah and Tymal Mills, it was a tough task. Following his first ball single, Cummins smashed a six and a four in his next two deliveries. But, it was the 16th over that changed everything. In the end, Cummins reached a half-century in just 14 balls, which is the joint fastest alongside KL Rahul in the IPL.
Daniel Sams carted all-over the park
In just one over, the batsman became a hero and probably ruined the bowler’s chance of playing the rest of the season. Irony, an Australian batter – Cummins – ripped apart an Australian bowler – Sams.
Needing 35 runs to win off five overs, Kolkata were inching towards a win. But, Cummins didn’t want this game to go deep, so he clubbed all those 35 runs in one over. Unfortunately, Sams was at the receiving end. Cummins started the over with a six and followed it by a four of the second ball. He then clubbed two back to back sixes. Sams then bowled a high full-toss that ended up as a no-ball and went for a boundary in the free-hit delivery. To finish it, Cummins smashed a six straight down the ground and hit all the 35 runs in one over. In the IPL, this is the second most expensive over and the first MI bowler to concede 30+ runs in an over.
An outrageous discharge
After smashing the joint fastest half-century, Cummins finished the innings with a six and took his tally to 56 off 15 balls, a strike rate of 373.3. In T20s, in an innings of 50+ runs, only Upul Bandara in SLC Twenty-20 Tournament in 2015 had scored at a higher strike rate (385.7). In the IPL, this is the highest strike rate for a batsman in an innings of 50+ score.
To add more on Cummins' blazing innings, in just 15 balls, he struck 10 boundaries, four boundary fours and six maximums. In an IPL innings of 15 or less balls, this is the most number of boundaries hit by a batsman.
Pollard power
After early setbacks, Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma forged an 83-run partnership of just 49 balls for the fourth wicket. This partnership helped Mumbai reach to a total of 139 in the last over, which looked distant at one time.
However, the extra boost was provided by the big man from Trinidad. Kieron Pollard just had five balls to bat and that was enough from him to make an impact. He scored 22 runs of the five balls he faced at a strike rate of 440. In an IPL innings of 20+ runs, only Krunal Pandya against Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2020 had a higher strike rate (500).
Mumbai lose first three for the fifth time in the IPL
The five-time title winners have this habit of losing their first few matches way too often. In the IPL, for the fifth time in an IPL season, Mumbai are losing their first three matches. No other team has lost their first three matches of a season more than twice.
In the inaugural edition of the IPL in 2008, Mumbai had lost their first three matches. In the edition in which they were the defending champs for the first time (2014), they had lost their first five on the bounce. In the following edition, they once again lost their first four matches, but went on to lift the title in 2015. Later, in 2018, they suffered the same fate as they lost the first three matches and once again they were the defending champs. This edition embarked as their fifth, in which Mumbai lost their first three.
