IPL 2023: Arshdeep Singh keeps cool in a slogathon as Punjab Kings rule over Mumbai

Synopsis: Arjun feels the heat and Arshdeep holds his cool to ensure Curran’s furious fifty didn’t go to waste.
Biff. Boom. Slap-dash. And whatever comic-book adjectives one wishes to use will fit this relentless slogathon from the 15th over mark in the first innings. How the crowd laps this sensory overload so feverishly without going numb needs social psychologs to investigate. Their mouths remained open – first with agony as Punjab Kings looted 96 runs in the last five of their innings, with Sam Curran, Jitesh Sharma (4 sixes in 7 balls), and Harpreet Brar smashing the living daylights of Mumbai. They then watched in deliriousness as Suryakumar Yadav led Mumbai’s fireworks to threaten the 215-run target.
But the game turned with his exit in the 17th over, and Arshdeep held his nerve to defend the 16 runs needed off the final over of the chase. Watching from the dugout was Sachin Tendulkar, spending the eve of his 50th birthday still ceaselessly in love with a game that has transformed into a power-hitting beast these days.
Surya scorches
For some reason, in the 12th over, Liam Livingstone thought it would be best to slide his leg breaks down the leg side to Suryakumar Yadav. Thrice it was thrown back from the backward square-leg boundary to kickstart a furious match-winning onslaught. Nathan Ellis and Sam Curran too bled, with a walk-across-whip-over-square-leg off Curran being the highlight. In the 18th over, with 33 runs still needed, Suryakumar fell, whipping Arshdeep Singh to the left of midwicket where Atharva Taide poached it with both hands and covered his mouth in disbelief at what he had done.
Arshdeep holds his cool

Nerves of steel!@arshdeepsinghh defends 16 in the final over and @PunjabKingsIPL reger a 13-run win in Mumbai 👏👏
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/FfkwVPpj3s #TATAIPL | #MIvPBKS pic.twitter.com/twKw2HGnBK
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 22, 2023
With 16 needed off the final over, Arshdeep kept it full and straight to knock out the stumps of Tilak Varma and Nehal Wadhera; both times the middle stump broke, just like Mumbai’s chase snapped suddenly. Arshdeep had given just 2 runs to terminate a spirited chase.
Arjun experiences highs and lows
Arjun swung the momentum Mumbai’s way in the 7th over with a vital wicket of Prabhsimran Singh but yielded the momentum Punjab’s way with a 31-run over in the 16th.
His two main deliveries are the slight inswing with the new ball and the yorkers. The risk lies in his alternatives if the yorker doesn’t work: the slower bouncer seems to be an option he is exploring but he is yet to nail it properly.

It’s raining sixes in Mumbai 🌧️
Half-century comes up for @PunjabKingsIPL skipper @CurranSM 👏👏#PBKS nearing the 200-run mark now!
Follow the match ▶️ https://t.co/FfkwVPpj3s #TATAIPL | #MIvPBKS pic.twitter.com/8ma8iLaP9v
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 22, 2023
He had the inswing going in the first over, and when he returned in the 7th over, Punjab were well-paced at 58 for 1. The second ball was pulled Taide for a four, and he went for the yorker next ball but it slipped down a wide. He nailed it on the next delivery, getting the ball to swerve in from the leg stump line to the middle, and got it under the bat of Prabhsimran Singh and Arjun celebrated with a pump of the f.
The lows flooded in the 16th over. He started with a make, a length delivery that was slammed over the straight boundary Sam Curran. He went for the well-outside-off yorker next ball, but it just about tailed past the wide line. Then came a thick-edged four of another outside-off full one. Soon, an over-pitched ball was hit over mid-off Harpreet Singh, who then slapped a full toss over backward square-leg for a six. A yorker turned to face-high beamer for a no-ball, and a slower bouncer down leg off the final delivery was helped past short fine Harpreet to finish a 31-run over.

Chawla stars again
It was Piyush Chawla’s battle against Liam Livingstone that was the highlight of the first phase of Punjab’s innings. The 8th over was a struggle for Livingstone, facing a dipping full one, a slower googly that beat his charge, a slider that came in quickly, and the outside-off googly that thwarted him. Just one run came in that over, and Chawla, unsurprisingly, struck in his next over. Livingstone was off the blocks too early, and Chawla slid it down the leg, and the wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan moved quickly to pull off a fine stumping.