An all-round bowling performance guided Mumbai Indians to a 48 run win over Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) here at Sheikh Zayed Stadium on Thursday.
James Pattinson, Jasprit Bumrah, and Rahul Chahar picked three wickets each while Trent Boult and Krunal Pandya scalped one. Chasing 192 runs, KXIP got off to a good start. However, Bumrah castled in-form Mayank Agarwal (25) in the fifth over. Minutes later, Krunal Pandya bowled Karun Nair for a duck.
Nicholas Pooran then joined skipper KL Rahul and the duo stitched a 21 run stand. Rahul’s sluggish innings came to an end in the ninth over which reduced Punjab for 60/3.
Pooran played brilliantly and tried to revive KXIP’s hope in the chase through his power-hitting before getting out in the 14th over. He scored 44 runs off 27 balls which included two glorious sixes.Pooran’s wicket triggered a middle-order collapse as Glenn Maxwell and Jimmy Neesham departed in quick succession. KXIP kept losing wickets at regular intervals and were soon found reeling at 124/8. In the end, Punjab fell 49 runs short of the target.
Earlier, after asked to bat first, Mumbai Indians started their innings on the wrong foot as they lost opener Quinton de Kock in the very first over. Three overs later Mohammed Shami’s brilliant throw ended Suryakumar Yadav (10) short stint at the crease.
Ishan Kishan then joined skipper Rohit Sharma, however, the left-handed batsman played slow innings. The duo stitched a 62-run stand before Krishnappa Gowtham dismissed him in the 14th over.
Kieron Pollard picked up from where he left and whacked Ravi Bishnoi for a six. Rohit too joined the party and smashed Neesham for consecutive boundaries. He completed his 38th IPL fifty and rescued Mumbai Indians from a bad start.
Mohammed Shami dismissed Rohit after the batsman went for the big one down the ground, but a relay catch between Maxwell and Neesham at the boundary ended his stint at the crease.
Hardik Pandya then joined Pollard and the duo bludgeoned the KXIP bowling attack in the death overs. A late onslaught by Pandya and Pollard powered Mumbai Indians to post a mammoth total of 191 runs in their allotted 20 overs.
