Mayank-Dhawan show helps Kings jump to third

Riding on the duo’s efforts, the Punjab side posts 198 before restricting Mumbai Indians to 186; Brevis displays his potential

Mayank Agarwal (52, 32b, 6x4, 2x6) and Shikhar Dhawan (70, 50b, 5x4, 3x6) powered Punjab Kings to a competitive 198 for five before Kagiso Rabada (4-0-29-2) and Arshdeep Singh (4-0-29-0) put the brakes on the chase as the team defeated Mumbai Indians by 12 runs in an IPL match at the MCA Stadium on Wednesday.

It was the fifth straight defeat for the five-time champion, which was cruising at one stage after youngsters Dewald Brevis (49, 25b, 4x4, 5x6) and Tilak Varma (36) put on a brilliant 84-run stand off just 41 balls for the third wicket.

Chasing 199 for victory, Mumbai Indians made a bad start, losing openers Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan inside the PowerPlay overs.

The 18-year-old Brevis — nicknamed ‘Baby AB’ for his uncanny resemblance to AB de Villiers’ style of batting — then came up with some sensational shots. After taking nine balls to get off the mark, Brevis waded into leg-spinner Rahul Chahar, hitting him for a boundary and four consecutive sixes in the ninth over.

Tilak, too, joined the party, hitting sixes and fours at will off Vaibhav Arora and Odean Smith (four for 30).

After Brevis fell to Smith for 49, the run outs of Tilak and Kieron Pollard due to mix-ups with Suryakumar Yadav hurt the chase.

Suryakumar tried to make amends with a quickfire 43, but once he was dismissed by Rabada, it was all over for Mumbai Indians.