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05/14 14:09 CDT Varma hands Punjab fifth successive loss in Bumrah's debut game
as Mumbai captain in IPL
Varma hands Punjab fifth successive loss in Bumrah's debut game as Mumbai
captain in IPL
DHARAMSHALA, India (AP) --- Tilak Varma's blistering unbeaten half century
helped give Jasprit Bumrah a winning debut as captain of Mumbai Indians on
Thursday, and handed Punjab Kings a fifth consecutive loss in the Indian
Premier League.
The left-handed Varma struck back-to-back sixes against Xavier Barlett in the
final over to hit a belligerent 75 not out off 33 balls with six fours and six
sixes that took Mumbai to 205-4 for a six-wicket win.
Prabhsimran Singh (57) made a half century after getting two chances and
Azmatullah Omarzai added 38 in his first IPL game of the season, to take Punjab
to 200-8 after Bumrah won the toss and elected to field.
Bumrah led Mumbai in the absence of Hardik Pandya, who is still recovering from
back spasms, and Suryakumar Yadav went home due to personal reasons after the
last game.
Bumrah didn't pick up a wicket in his four overs, but Shardul Thakur --- who
conceded 22 off his first seven legitimate balls --- finished with 4-39 before
Omarzai, Vishnu Vinod (15) and Bartlett (18) played little cameos as Punjab
scored 53 off their final three overs.
Mumbai are already out of playoff contention with only four wins from 12 games.
Punjab, which stayed unbeaten in the first half of the season before losing
five in a row, are still at No. 4 with 13 points.
"One from one, good game of cricket," said Bumrah. "I have captained a test
match, a T20I and now only thing left is an ODI. But jokes apart, really
enjoyed my time."
Mumbai needed 15 off Bartlett's final over and Will Jacks (25 not out off 10
balls) brought down the target to nine off the first ball when he smashed the
fast bowler for a straight six over long off before Varma sealed the game with
two sixes.
Mumbai were 149-4 in the 17th over when Sherfane Rutherford (20) holed out in
the deep, but then Marco Jansen conceded 22 in the 18th over against Varma and
Jacks to help Mumbai stage a stunning comeback.
"We were pretty clear in what we wanted to do (at the toss)," Bumrah said.
"Credit to the bowlers, they executed and held their nerve as well."
Ryan Rickelton (48) gave Mumbai a solid start of 59-0 in the power play as
Rohit Sharma (25) struggled to score freely from the other end before the
former Mumbai captain got clean bowled by Chahal off a perfect leg-break in the
10th over.
But Varma put the chase back on track with a 61-run partnership with
Rutherford. And Chahal, who conceded only 12 off his first three overs, ended
up giving away 20 runs in the 16th over which reduced the target to 52.
"Tough pill to swallow," said Punjab captain Shreyas Iyer. "Don't want to
pinpoint a situation. It was a great game of cricket. He (Tilak) played an
amazing knock, and manoeuvred the field nicely, so credit to him."
Bumrah should have got the wicket of Singh in his first over but Naman Dhir put
down a regulation catch in the first slip. Singh got another opportunity on 28
when Corbin Bosch couldn't grasp a return catch before the opener stepped up
and completed his half century off 29 balls and took Punjab to 100-1 in 11
overs.
But Thakur triggered the Punjab collapse in the 12th over when first Singh
sliced a catch to Bosch at third and then knocked back the off stump of Iyer
(4) in the same over. Fast bowler Raj Bawa bowled Cooper Connolly for a
struggling 21 off 22 balls before Thakur picked up two more wickets that left
Punjab reeling at 140-7 in the 17th over.
However, Omarzai, Bartlett and impact substitute Vinod showed plenty of
aggression in the final three overs and got Punjab to the 200-run mark which
Mumbai crossed over with a ball to spare.
___
AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket
