Varma hits 75 as Mumbai Indians hand Punjab Kings their fifth straight IPL loss

[p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bumrah-jasprit/lx2sGNBc/"]Bumrah[/a] stood in for the unavailable duo of [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/pandya-hardik/OWVGP0P6/"]Hardik Pandya[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/yadav-suryakumar/jik1yPzM/"]Suryakumar Yadav[/a], as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/varma-tilak/06FFf1DG/"]Varma[/a] starred again for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/mumbai-indians/2eZPzJH2/"]Mumbai[/a], lifting his side from 88-3 to 205-4, and crossing the finish line with a ball to spare.[/p][p]Varma hit six sixes. He had Will Jacks (25 not out) for company at the end.[/p][p]Earlier, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/punjab-kings/juzL6jnm/"]Punjab[/a] recovered to 200-8 after a middle-order collapse precipitated by Shadul Thakur's 4-39.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/omarzai-azmatullah/Y7mH662U/"]Azmatullah Omarzai[/a]'s 38 off 17 balls turned the game around for the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/chennai-super-kings/hQRNSDp4/"]Kings[/a], but it did not suffice.[/p][embed guid="afde2eea-dfac-4534-9e9b-58437348cf6a" url="https://www.instagram.com/p/DYVA2OasPqZ/?hl=en" social-type="instagram" /][p]Fourth-placed Punjab, struggling to stay afloat in the top four, lost a fifth consecutive game, and must win both their remaining games to make the knockouts. Mumbai are ninth with four wins in 12 games.[/p][p]Put into bat, Punjab made a quick getaway with its openers putting on 50 off 33 balls.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/singh-prabhsimran/0nQp4lte/"]Prabhsimran Singh[/a], who has been criticised on social media for being overweight, replied with four sixes and hit 50 off 29 balls. He added 57 off 35 balls with Cooper [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/connolly-cooper/jPqaRayb/"]Connolly[/a] (21).[/p][p]Thakur applied the brakes as he picked four wickets in three overs.[/p][p]He had Prabhsimran Singh caught in the 12th over, and bowled skipper [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/iyer-shreyas/INzfXBtM/"]Shreyas Iyer[/a] two balls later.[/p][embed guid="b3510abb-c404-4de0-92a3-801bb1d019cc" url="https://www.instagram.com/p/DYVFFXNO1ca/?hl=en" social-type="instagram" /][p]Punjab did not score a run for six balls as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bawa-raj/x4xFBpzP/"]Raj Bawa[/a] bowled Connolly. They lost six wickets for 33, crashing to 140-7.[/p][p]Late carnage helped Punjab hit 63 runs in the final three overs and reach 200. Omarzai struck 19 runs off the 18th over, then [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/barlett-xavier/baz2m7jS/"]Bartlett[/a] scored 22 and 12 off the final two – the duo hit four sixes between them.[/p][p]Skipper Bumrah took no wickets and conceded 35 runs in his four overs[/p][p]Mumbai started quickly as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/rickelton-ryan/xOotum0C/"]Ryan Rickelton[/a] hit 48 off 23 balls with four sixes. He put on 61 off 39 balls with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sharma-rohit/zBLBQRyA/"]Rohit Sharma[/a] (25). Omarzai struck with the ball, dismissing both Rickelton and later [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/rutherford-sherfane/8t5kwJcK/"]Sherfane Rutherford[/a] for 20 after a stand of 61 with Varma.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/chahal-yuzvendra/vsktW2bq/"]Yuzvendra Chahal[/a] bowled a controlled first spell of wrist spin on a slowing Dharamsala wicket, before Varma broke free with 50 off 25 balls.[/p][p]Varma and Jacks put on 56 off 20 balls to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/cricket/mumbai-indians-2eZPzJH2/punjab-kings-juzL6jnm/?mid=2NYdagsJ"]secure victory[/a].[/p]