When two teams collectively score in excess of 400 runs in a T20 contest, not many a times one would appreciate and remember a bowler as an afterthought after the end of it. But, Arshdeep Singh made sure he would dominate the bedroom conversations after his immaculate death bowling on display tonight.
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En route the target of 215 runs, Mumbai Indians required 66 runs from the last five Overs with eight wickets in hand, plus the duo of Suryakumar Yadav (57 off 26) and Cameron Green (67 off 43) in the mood to thwack the Punjab Kings bowlers black and blue at the Wankhede Stadium.
However, with 34 runs required off 17 balls, PBKS left-arm pacer Arshdeep (4-0-29-4) not only removed the ever-dangerous SKY from the crease, but gave away only a couple of runs while defending 16 in the final Over to hand his side a 13-run victory.
The highlight of the final Over was also the sight of Arshdeep breaking the stumps off consecutive deliveries while bowling those immaculate Yorkers, to absolutely puncture the spirits of the Wankhede crowd.
MI vs PBKS Man of the Match 2023
Earlier, handy knocks from the lower-middle order batters in skipper Sam Curran (55 off 29) and Harpreet Singh (41 off 28), and a special cameo off the bat of wicket-keeper batter Jitesh Sharma (25 off 7), helped Punjab post a challenging total of 214/8 in their 20 Overs.
The trio in fact, added 96 runs off the final five Overs, taking Arjun Tendulkar (3-0-48-1) and Cameron Green (4-0-41-2) for 31 runs (16th Over) and 25 runs (18th Over) respectively.
Thus, it was Sam Curran indeed, for his brilliant half-century (the lone one tonight for PBKS), who ultimately walked away with the ‘Player of the Match‘ award. Curran, however, in all modesty, reckoned he didn’t deserve the award considering the death bowling on display by his bowlers.
“Pretty special. What an amazing ground. The environment is incredible here. It’s (the win) is a massive positive for us. I don’t think I should be getting the Man of the Match considering how the boys closed the game out there. Without Shikhar, we know we had to take that responsibility. Our group is coming together really well,” remarked Curran after receiving the award.
