Punjab Kings’ (PBKS) playoff chances took a serious beating after they lost their fifth game in a row, this time going down to Mumbai Indians (MI) by six wickets in Dharamsala. They remain fourth on the table with 13 points from 12 games, while the two teams just below them, Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals, have 12 points each with a game in hand.

MI were without their regular captain Hardik Pandya, who is still recovering from back spasms, and stand-in captain Suryakumar Yadav, who missed out due to personal reasons. In their absence, Jasprit Bumrah led them for the first time in the IPL and put PBKS in after winning the toss. The hosts rode on Prabhsimran Singh’s chancy 57 off 32 to reach 100 in 11 overs before Shardul Thakur’s four-for derailed them. They were 140 for 7 in the 17th over but Azmatullah Omarzai, Xavier Bartlett and Impact Player Vishnu Vinod ransacked 60 in the last 22 balls to lift them to 200 for 8.

Ryan Rickelton set up the chase for MI with his 23-ball 48. But it was Tilak Verma who played the pivotal role with his unbeaten 75 off 33. With 50 needed from three overs, he, with the help of Will Jacks, took MI over the line on the penultimate ball of the match.

Priyansh Arya opened his account with a second-ball four off Deepak Chahar and Prabhsimran picked up two fours off Bumrah in the following over. In all, the two combined to hit ten fours in the powerplay but there were plenty of dot balls and not a single six. To make things worse for PBKS, Chahar bowled Arya with a knuckleball in the final over of the powerplay, after which PBKS were 55 for 1.

Prabhsimran was on 10 off 11 balls at one point. He was dropped on 5 by Naman Dhir off Bumrah and then on 28 by Corbin Bosch off his own bowling. He made full use of those reprieves and slog-swept Raghu Sharma for back-to-back sixes. He brought up his fifty off 29 balls and took PBKS past 100.

Sri Lanka’s 1996 World Cup-winning team will arrive in Kuala Lumpur today (Friday) for a series of events marking the 30th anniversary of their triumph that stunned the cricketing world. The tour, organised by Tourism Malaysia, Cricket Malaysia and the Royal Selangor Club, will feature several events spread across four days.

The highlight of the visit will be a T20 game involving the World Cup-winning side on Saturday, starting at 11:30 a.m. Sri Lanka time. The match will be telecast live on Dialog TV.

A gala dinner, coaching clinics for underprivileged children conducted by the former world champions and several fan engagement activities are also part of the programme.

Sri Lanka’s dependable number three from the 1996 campaign, Asanka Gurusinha and team physiotherapist Alex Kountouri, both based in Melbourne, had already arrived in Kuala Lumpur ahead of the event, while the rest of the squad were due to leave Colombo on Thursday night.

“I am really excited and looking forward to the event. It’s always fun to get together with the boys and relive the good old days. It’s going to be a cracking few days,” Gurusinha told The Island.

“Without us even realising it, 30 years have gone by since we became world champions. All the boys are still close to each other just like we were back then and as I said, it’s going to be an exciting few days,” he added.

The organisers have secured several sponsors for the occasion and hope the presence of Sri Lanka’s celebrated side will help generate greater interest in cricket in Malaysia.

Malaysia became an associate member of the International Cricket Council in 1967 and remains an active member of the Asian Cricket Council. Earlier this year, they appointed former Sri Lanka coach Dav Whatmore as Director of Cricket.

The country has previously hosted ICC events, including the Under-19 World Cup, but the national side has struggled to keep pace with emerging Asian teams such as Nepal, Oman, UAE and Hong Kong.

Badminton remains Malaysia’s most popular sport, accounting for ten of the country’s 15 Olympic medals. Football too enjoys a passionate following, leaving cricket fighting an uphill battle for wider appeal.

Rex Clementine

in Kuala Lumpur