Punjab Kings pacer Arshdeep Singh was at his absolute best in the Indian Premier League (IPL clash between Punjab Kings and Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday. The left-arm speedster finished with figures of 4 for 29 as Punjab beat Mumbai by 13 runs. Even though the eventual result might suggest that Punjab registered a comfortable win, it was a closely fought contest and had it not been for the young speedster's final over, the result could have well been different.
Punjab needed 16 runs to win from 6 balls but Arshdeep conceded just 2 while taking a couple of wickets to hand PBKS a win. While Tim David managed a single off the first ball of the over, Tilak Varma played a dot delivery next before being cleaned up by the pacer by a superb yorker off the next ball. In the very next ball, Nehal Wadhera was cleaned by the speedster who was spot on with his full-length ball in his last over.
What was also noteworthy of these two wickets was the fact that Arshdeep broke the middle stump on both the occasions in the final over. It is now being reported that each stump was worth 24 lakh. A picture of the middle stump broken by the PBKS fast bowler also went viral on social media.
Punjab's win has taken them to 8 points from 7 matches and they are now at the fifth place on the points table with a net run rate of -0.162. As many as 5 teams are tied at 8 points but Punjab's net run rate is the worst of the lot. Rajasthan Royals with 8 points from 6 matches are on top of the table as of now with a net run rate of +1.043.