Shardul Thakur and Raj Bawa bowl out PBKS batters in back-to-back overs in PBKS vs MI IPL 2026

Punjab Kings (PBKS) are facing Mumbai Indians (MI) in an important IPL 2026 clash at Dharamsala on Thursday night (May 14). During the first innings of the match, while the hosts PBKS were in a strong position after the first half, they lost some regular wickets thanks to the disciplined bowling of MI pacers. Shardul Thakur and Raj Bawa brilliantly bowled the home batters to make the innings interesting. 

In the absence of regular captain Hardik Pandya and vice-captain Suryakumar Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah is leading struggling MI in the gamẹ. MI skipper Bumrah chose to field first after winning the toss. While PBKS suddenly lost their last four games after remaining unbeaten for the first seven games of the season (six wins and one no result), they are suddenly under pressure after dropping to the fourth position. 

PBKS openers Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh had a 50-run opening partnership inside the powerplay. After Arya was dismissed for 22 runs, Singh had a 57-run second-wicket partnership with Cooper Connolly. At the end of the 11th over, PBKS completed 100 runs. 

Shardul Thakur strikes first — PBKS batter bowled in clinical delivery 

In the 12th over, Shardul Thakur provided big blows to the hosts with two wickets in three balls. After Singh was caught out for 57 runs off 32 balls, who was earlier dropped twice, captain Shreyas Iyer started his innings with a four. However, on the next ball, Shardul bowled Iyer (4), as the PBKS skipper went back to the pavilion cheaply. 

Raj Bawa follows up immediately — back-to-back bowling dismissals rock PBKS

Raj Bawa delivered the next over, where he bowled the other set batter Cooper Connolly, who scored 21 runs off 22 balls. Those were big moments in that innings, as Punjab Kings were batting strongly at that moment, while the total of 200 seemed very comfortable for them. However, Shardul and Raj made the story interesting, as the same total now felt very far to achieve. 

Watch both the bowled dismissals video here:

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How the double bowling blow changed the momentum of PBKS vs MI IPL 2026

Surely, Punjab Kings lost focus, as they were losing regular wickets. While they were once batting at 107/2, they suddenly found themselves at 140/7 and later at 166/8. However, in the last two overs, Vishnu Vinod and Xavier Bartlett had brilliant cameos, as the hosts just managed to reach the 200-run mark. While Vishnu scored 15 not out off eight balls, Xavier scored 18 not off seven balls. In the 19th over, Corbin Bosch conceded 22 runs, while captain Bumrah conceded 12 runs in the final over, as PBKS scored 200/8 in 20 overs. Shardul ended the innings with the bowling figures of 4-0-39-4, while Raj got one wicket in his only over (1/11). 

The crucial blows from Shardul and Raj ultimately proved crucial for the match, as MI won the game in the final over. MI needed 15 runs to win in the final over, where Will Jacks hit a six on the first ball, and Tilak Varma slammed back-to-back sixes in the fourth and fifth balls to secure a six-wicket win. With the help of six fours and six sixes, the Player of the Match Tilak scored 75 not out off 33 balls.