On a day when third-wicket partnerships made all the difference, it was Punjab Kings’ stand between a rampant Prabhsimran Singh and skipper Shreyas Iyer that eventually proved to be the X-factor as they cruised to a seven-wicket victory against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium, here on Thursday. Chasing a tricky 196 for a win, Punjab Kings lost Priyansh Arya and Cooper Connolly early but Prabhsimran’s 80 and Iyer’s 66 completely overwhelmed Mumbai Indians bowling attack as they romped home at 198/3 in 16.3 overs.
Prabhsimran’s 80 off 39 balls comprised 11 fours and two sixes with a strike rate of 205.12 while Iyer’s knock came off 35 balls with five fours and four sixes at a strike rate of 188.57. Punjab now have nine points from five matches while Mumbai Indians are in a desperate situation as they stay on two points with the solitary opening game victory.Earlier, Quinton De Kock opened his IPL 2026 with a brilliant hundred at a crucial time for Mumbai Indians to give the five-time champions a competitive total of 195/6 in 20 overs in their match against Punjab Kings at the Wankhede Stadium, here on Thursday.
De Kock’s 112 off 60 balls with eight fours and seven sixes at a strike rate of 186.66 was the highlight of the Mumbai Indians innings and his third-wicket partnership of 122 off 68 balls with Naman Dhir, who struck a timely fifty, rescued the home team from a precarious 12/2 after Arshdeep Singh’s early strikes for Punjab Kings.
Earlier, an excellent first over bowled by Arshdeep Singh started the proceedings for Punjab Kings against Mumbai Indians as he didn’t allow Ryan Rickelton to get off strike with his penetration and accuracy.After just one run came off the first over, Quinton De Kock took things into his own hands slamming a six over third man and a four straight down the ground off his pads off Marco Jansen in the second over. However, Arshdeep struck in the third over getting Rickelton caught in the deep on the leg side as Mumbai Indians lost their first wicket and the left-arm pacer scalped his 100th IPL wicket. Then disaster struck for Mumbai Indians the very next ball as Suryakumar Yadav was caught at short third man by Yuzvendra Chahal for a golden duck as MI were in all sorts of trouble at 12/2.After four overs, Mumbai Indians were 25/2 and their powerplay woes continuing into the fifth match of the season. Naman Dhir got a reprieve on 10 in the fifth over when his attempted scoop shot off Jansen was dropped at leg gully by Chahal much to the cheer of the Wankhede faithful.De Kock and Dhir had salvaged the situation for Mumbai Indians at the end of powerplay as Mumbai Indians finished at a respectable 48/2.Chahal’s first over and Mumbai Indians’ seventh over saw 19 runs coming off it as De Kock smashed a six and a four while Dhir hoisted a maximum of his own to give a great deal of momentum to the home team’s innings as they reached 67/2 in seven overs.At the 10-over mark, Mumbai Indians were 97/2 with De Kock on 51 off 29 balls with four fours and three sixes and Dhir chugging along nicely on 38 off 22 balls with three fours and two sixes.MI’s 100 came in 10.2 overs after De Kock’s boundary off the third ball of the 11th over which was then followed by a six off Xavier Bartlett’s bowling.Chahal was having an off day proving to be a tad too expensive as his third over and Mumbai’s 12th over going for 15 runs as the five-time champions kept their momentum going.
The De Kock-Dhir third-wicket partnership proving to be a potentially gamechanging one as they amassed 120 runs in 64 balls after 13 overs at a run rate of 11.25.Dhir was finally out in the 14th over after a thoroughly deserving fifty off 29 balls with three fours and three sixes and a strike rate of 161.29. The batting all-rounder was caught by Bartlett in the deep off Shashank Singh as Punjab Kings got an opening for some inroads with MI on 134/3.De Kock went absolutely berserk in the 16th over as he blasted Shashank Singh for two consecutive sixes and getting into the nineties and inch closer to a famous hundred at the Wankhede.The South Africa batter brought up his 100 off the last ball of the 17th over bowled by Bartlett in 53 balls with a four. The century had seven fours and seven sixes with him going on a strike rate of 190 plus.