Suryakumar Yadav's once again proved why he is the ‘Numero Uno’ of the slam bang cricket as he played an lightning knock of 31-ball 66 in the match against Punjab Kings (PBKS) to ensure Mumbai Indians' (MI) six-wicket victory at the IS Bindra Stadium on Wednesday (May 3).
Despite chasing a daunting target of 215, Suryakumar's blitzkrieg made it all easy for the five-time champions to clinch the issue with seven balls to spare. Suryakumar cracked 66 off 31 and combined with Ishan Kishan (75 off 41) to weave a match-winning partnership for the third wicket. Tilak Verma (19 off 10) and Tim David (26 off 10) did the rest and overhauled the target with six wickets to spare.
Meanwhile, India's legendary spinner Harbhajan Singh was all praise for Suryakumar and said that he hasn't come across any batter dominated like this in any format.
"I have never seen such things, that you put the bowler under pressure like this. I have played a lot of cricket. I have not come across any guy who can dominate like this. AB de Villiers and Chris Gayle played and went but I don't think any batter dominated like this and in any format," Harbhajan said on Star Sports.
"It doesn't make a difference to him who the bowler in front of him is. He has his game set. He knows where to hit each ball. Normally, players take singles or hit hard along the ground. He has all types of shots where he hits boundaries. He is a player of a different level. Bowling dot balls to him is difficult. I have not seen such batting. When he plays, everyone looks pale. The cricket we have seen or played, this looks like a different form of cricket," he added.
After the loss Punjab are now placed seventh in the points table with 10 points while the five-time champions MI are a notch ahead of PBKS on sixth with as many points but with better net run rate. Rohit Sharma-led MI will next lock horns with Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on May 6.
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