IPL 2023: Punjab dazzle; Mumbai out-dazzles

Synopsis: Surya-Kishan dazzle to make a mockery of a 200-plus chase after Chawla stars even as Jitesh Sharma flays a weak Mumbai bowling attack
Surya-Kishan dazzle
When Cameron Green swished wildly and missed continuously after Rohit Sharma had exited the third ball, the 215-run chase seemed to be going nowhere. But when Rishi Dhawan made the make of bowling length, Ishan Kishan had two murderous swings to thwack them over the onside boundary. Though Green fell in the next over, the sixth of the innings, the game would change with the arrival of Suryakumar Yadav.
The momentum completely switched in the middle overs between the 9th to 11th against Punjab’s spinners Rahul Chahar and Harpreet Brar. With the pitch a batting beauty then, Kishan went so hard at the spinners; they had the feel of the slogs with his scything bat-swings that finish over his shoulder but the ball traversed in the conventional spaces like straight down the ground. As many as 38 runs came in those 3 overs and there was a discernible shift in the game: Punjab couldn’t now depend on the spinners and had to drag in the seamers. But if Kishan plundered spin, Surya robbed the pacers with a smile on his face.

100- partnership up in no time!@ishankishan51 & @surya_14kumar have made this chase look effortless so far.
Follow the match – https://t.co/QDEf6eqX22#TATAIPL | #PBKSvMI pic.twitter.com/qERm0rYWzE
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 3, 2023
Not that there is an absence of a naturalness in Suryakumar’s batting, but that constructed idea of modern-day T20 batting has seeped in so naturally. He hits into unique places with ultra-powerful wrs. He still comes from the same solid base that is nonnegotiable but if one were to l out its mechanics – the various terms like ‘set-up at crease’, ‘shape’, ‘unweighting of bat’, ‘correct position’, can be used.
He walloped Sam Curran for two fours and two sixes in the 13th over that went for 27 that seemed to settle any doubts about where the game was heading. The first ball was a SKY Special, a full-length ball outside off not sliced or squeezed or squirted away but with that rubber-wr he gracefully sliced it up and over backward point for a splendid six. The next ball from Curran was a weak length ball outside off and Surya went down on his knee to dispose it over cover boundary, and held his pose as well. The next was a fuller, attempted yorker perhaps, but Surya whip-flicked it right past a startled Curran who took evasive action rather than attempt any heroic catch. Then came the Surya sweep, where he finishes up as if he were throwing a towel over his shoulder.

!
Fifty partnership up between Ishan Kishan & SKY
1️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ up for Mumbai Indians 🔥🔥
Follow the match ▶️ https://t.co/QDEf6eqX22 #TATAIPL | #PBKSvMI pic.twitter.com/WL7fnpiI8b
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 3, 2023
Both fell in the end overs but with the satisfaction that the job was done and Tilak Varma ensured it was a done deal, smoking in a few big hits.

That’s that from Match 46.@mipaltan reger a 6-wicket win against #PBKS to add to crucial points to their tally.#MI chase down the target in 18.5 overs.
Scorecard – https://t.co/IPLsfnImuP #TATAIPL #PBKSvMI #IPL2023 pic.twitter.com/SeKR48s9Vv
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 3, 2023
Chawla stars
Piyush Chawla has the most wickets (14) in the overs between 7 and 15. He bossed the middle overs yet again against Punjab Kings, taking out Shikhar Dhawan and Matt Short with his two different googlies.

Piyush Chawla gets the key breakthrough!
Shikhar Dhawan steps down, but is stumped Ishan Kishan.
Live – https://t.co/IPLsfnImuP #TATAIPL #PBKSvMI #IPL2023 pic.twitter.com/fd4blfWR11
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 3, 2023
Dhawan’s dismissal was a peach; Short’s was always coming. Dhawan had just charged him to ping the straight boundary and came out again but Chawla had the experience to anticipate that. He went slightly wider and slid that finger-googly across Dhawan who couldn’t connect with his flail and was stumped.
Chawla’s other googly is the back-of-the-hand version when he wants it to spin more and a lot slower. The finger-one comes with pace and camouflage. And so, he tossed up the back-of-the-hand wrong’un to Short, who had an almighty swing at it, was too early with his hack, and was bowled.

8️⃣2️⃣ runs4️⃣2️⃣ balls7️⃣ fours6️⃣ sixes
It was raining fours and sixes courtesy of @liaml4893‘s supreme striking 💥💥 #TATAIPL | #PBKSvMI
Sit back and enjoy the Livingstone storm 🎥🔽 https://t.co/rTO5jP6pG7
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 3, 2023
Jofra’s nightmarish night
It didn’t help their cause that Jofra Archer’s elbow hasn’t quite healed yet. Or so it seemed; Brett Lee definitely thought so as he started to count the high number of slower ones that Archer bowled on a loop suggesting, “the elbow is still sore”. As he continued to leak runs (21 in his 2nd, and 27 in his final) Lee’s verdict turned more critical. “If you can’t do what you have been paid to do, then you are better off to go off the field … he is masking his sore elbow (with the slower ones).” And when Robin Uthappa suggested it could be difficult to comeback after injury, Lee didn’t let that sentiment linger: “Sorry, it comes to mind. You have to trick your body to forget the pain and bowl.”
Jitesh’s poise
There is an absence of bossiness in Jitesh’s body language at the crease. Quite calm, steady, and no discernible predetermination. In some sense, his set up at the crease reminds one of the Sri Lankan dasher Tillakaratne Dilshan, in his furious swings off length deliveries and in the square slices through point balls that fall just short of yorker. Like Dilshan, Jitesh too likes to play the laps over short fine-leg, though on Wednesday night, he shelved it completely, instead focussing on going downtown.

Jitesh Sharma got going immediately with the bat and stitched a solid partnership with Liam Livingstone 💪🏻#TATAIPL | #PBKSvMI
Revisit his knock here 🎥🔽 https://t.co/xkpooOEX2N
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 3, 2023
And to think he was an opener, until after a dip in form post 2017, he worked on his skills to convert himself into a finisher. As he told this newspaper, “As an opener it is very difficult to get into any IPL team. I was well aware. There was a dip also. Post 2017, I was not able to perform well. I worked on my skills.” He and Livingstone did their best, but were out-dazzled the Surya-Kishan show.