Captain Hardik Pandya paid the price after Mumbai Indians were found guilty of breaching the IPL Code of Conduct. The MI captain was slapped with a fine of ₹12 lakh after MI maintained a slow over rate against Punjab Kings in an IPL 2024 match in Mullanpur on Thursday.
“Hardik Pandya, the Mumbai Indians captain, has been fined after his team maintained a slow over rate during their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 match against Punjab Kings at the PCA New International Cricket Stadium, Mullanpur on April 18,” BCCI said in a release after the PBKS vs MI match.
It was MI’s first overrate offence this season. “As it was his team’s first offence of the season under the IPL’s Code of Conduct relating to minimum over rate offences, Pandya was fined ₹12 lakhs,” the release added.
The slow over rate nearly cost MI the match against PBKS. The five-time champions were forced to keep only four fielders outside the inner ring instead of the usual five in the last two overs of the match as they fell short of the cut-off time.
The twists and turns and the Ashutosh Sharma brilliance
Hardik and fast bowler Akash Madhwal bowled with only four boundary riders when PBKS needed 22 off 12 balls.
Hardik held his nerve and bowled a good penultimate over. The MI captain conceded only four runs in his first three balls and then got the important wicket of Harpreet Brar off his fourth ball. Hardik rolled his finger over the ball, Brar made a good connection but he was hitting towards the longer side of the boundary and was holed out to Mohammad Nabi at fine leg.
The twists and turns of the match, however, did not end. PBKS No.11 Kagiso Rabada came and pulled his first ball for six to keep his side in the chase.
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PBKS needed 12 off the last over. Madhwal started the over with a wide. The next ball was once again full and wide but Rabada got bat to it. The ball went towards the deep point where Nabi was once again at the top of his game. He charged the ball, picked it up cleanly and hurled a flat throw towards the striker’s end.
Rabada wanted the strike and came back for the second but he couldn’t reach the crease before Ishan Kishan took the bails off. The MI fielders were not that confident in the beginning but the moment replays revealed Rabada was short of his crease, they broke into wild celebrations. They won the match by nine runs.
This was MI’s third win in their last four encounters. But it didn’t come before a major scare. In the 193-run chase, PBKS were reduced to 111/7 at one point but Ashutosh Sharma played a blinder of an innings to bring the hosts back in the game. The right-hander smashed 61 off 28 balls with seven sixes and till he was at the crease, it seemed like an easy win for PBKS.
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In the first ball of the 18th over, Ashutosh was out while trying to hit Gerald Coetzee for a six.
