Abu Dhabi: Mumbai Indians (MI) were at their best against Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) dominating in all three fields – batting, bowling and fielding – here in their IPL encounter, Thursday. The defending champions defeated the KL Rahul-led side by 48 runs.
It was after, Rohit Sharma (70, 45b, 8×4, 3×6) and his two big-hitting lieutenants Kieron Pollard (47 n o, 20b, 3×4, 4×6) and Hardik Pandya (30 n o, 11b, 3×4, 2×6) powered MI to 191/4. In reply, KXIP managed to score 143/8.
KXIP began their chase wonderfully with Mayank Agarwal (25) taking the onus to attack from the word go while Rahul (17) playing second fiddle. However, Jasprit Bumrah (2/18) came into attack to break the stand, castling Agarwal in the fifth over.
After that, KXIP lost wickets at regular intervals while trying to keep up with the required rate. Sans Nicolas Pooran (44, 27b, 3×4, 2×6), none of the KXIP batsmen could made an impact.
For MI, sans Trent Boult (1/42), all the bowlers were quite economical. Leg-spinner Rahul Chahar (2/26), James Pattinson (2/28) and Krunal Pandya (1/27) bowled superb spells.
Earlier, Rohit led from the front with a splendid knock. After his departure, the duo of Pollard and Hardik smashed fours and sixes at will, scoring 67 runs in mere 25 balls.
MI got 25 runs in the final over with Pollard sending Krishnappa Gotham’s (1/45) last three balls into the stands of the Sheikh Zayed Stadium. They scored 19 off the penultimate over and 18 off the 18th over.
MI were 87/3 at the end of the 14th over but upped the ante with Pollard and Rohit hitting a six each off leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi (0/37) to collect 15 runs from the 15th over. Rohit scored 22 runs off the 16th over bowled by James Neesham (0/52). It was then left to the pair of Pollard and Hardik to provide the final flourish.
The start was inauspicious for the defending champions as Sheldon Cottrell (1/20) castled Quinton de Kock with late swing after four dot balls in the first over.
Rohit reached 5,000 IPL runs with a glorious cover drive off his first ball of the innings, joining Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina.
Brief scores: Mumbai Indians 191/4 (Rohit Sharma 70, Kieron Pollard 47 n o, Hardik Pandya 30 n o; Sheldon Cottrell 1/20) beat Kings XI Punjab 143/8 (Nicolas Pooran 44; Jasprit Bumrah 2/18, Rahul Chahar 2/26, James Pattinson 2/28) by 48 runs.
