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End of an eventful match at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamshala. Punjab Kings (PBKS) and Mumbai Indians (MI) both of the teams fought hard to claim the 2 points.
The teams needed those points for different reasons. PBKS wanted to win the match to regain their momentum as a leading team in the IPL 2026 points table, where MI travelled to Himachal Pradesh in search of a consolation victory.
Mumbai Indians snatch a heroic win over the Punjab Kings
The match went until the penultimate over to find out the winner of the rivalry. At one point in the second innings, MI was on the wrong foot until Tilak Varma walked in.
The middle-order batter, who recorded a century in the ongoing Indian Premier League, played a fifty-plus run knock tonight for the Mumbai Indians, and gifted the home team, Punjab Kings, their 5 defeat in IPL 2026. PBKS is currently on a five-match losing streak after tonight’s game.
Tilak Varma is the hero for MI tonight
Batting first, the Punjab Kings scored 200 runs in 20 overs in exchange for 8 wickets. Prabhsimran Singh played a crucial knock from the top of the batting order to boost the run rate of the team. Without Singh’s 57-run knock, and a late cameo by Azmatullah Omarzai (38 off 17), helped the team to claim the competitive total.
Shardul Thakur proved to be a surprising inclusion in MI’s eleven, who took 4 wickets, including a brace in a single over. In one over, he dispatched the well-set Prabhsimran Singh and the PBKS captain Shreyas Iyer, and made the match spicier instantly. In the second innings, while PBKS was chasing the 201-run target, Rohit Sharma played an unusual slow knock; 25 runs with a strike rate of 96.15.
That sluggish knock cloud has caused another defeat for the Mumbai Indians in this season, but thanks to Tilak Varma and Will Jacks, who came forward and delivered timely blows. MI eventually won the match in the second last ball of the match, by 6 wickets. Tilak Varma remains undefeated for 75 off 33, and a not out 25 off 10 for Will Jacks.
Tough pill to swallow: Shreyas Iyer, PBKS captain
“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,’ Shreyas Iyer said after the match.
“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,” he added.
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