Punjab Kings set a 215-run target for Mumbai Indians.
Punjab Kings (PBKS) are hosting Mumbai Indians (MI) in Match 46 of the IPL 2023 in Mohali. PBKS had 10 points from 9 matches, while MI had 8 points from 8 matches before Wednesday's clash.
MI captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bowl first. Interestingly, MI are playing only three foreigners in this game which surprised many.
PBKS captain Shikhar Dhawan gave a good start to his side with 30 off 20 balls, while Matthew Short scored 27. The innings got the much-needed impetus from Liam Livingstone (82*) and Jitesh Sharma (49*) as the duo plundered 119* runs off just 52 balls for the 4th wicket to help their team post 214/3 on the board, their fourth consecutive 200+ total in the tournament.
In reply, MI got off to the worst start possible with Rohit Sharma falling for a duck to Rishi Dhawan. The 'Hitman' hasn't had the best of seasons as he has scored just 184 runs with one half-century.
WATCH – “Kya karun bata?" Rohit Sharma asks Shikhar Dhawan what to do after winning toss
The Punjab Kings Twitter admin, took the opportunity to troll the MI captain by taking a dig at his nickname 'Ro' as they tweeted 'R0' not once but twice after the dismissal.
The tweets expectedly fetched a strong response as fans of Rohit Sharma slammed the franchise for mocking the MI and India captain. Punjab Kings later deleted the tweets after losing to Mumbai Indians by six wickets.
The handle had previously faced flak for couple of similar tweets taking digs at the 'Sachin, Sachin' chants for Sachin Tendulkar at Wankhede Stadium in the previous encounter between both teams.