Press Trust of India
Mumbai, April 12: As the evening transcended into the night, Preity Zinta’s dimpled smile got bigger with Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) getting the better of Mumbai Indians (MI) by 19 runs at the Wankhede Stadium here Sunday.
Chasing a stiff target of 178 runs, MI were jolted by Sandeep Sharma as he trapped Rohit Sharma in front of the wicket for a naught. Anureet Singh (2/41) soon joined the party by sending back Aditya tare. Mitchell Johnson (2/23) then cleaned up his national teammate Aaron Finch (8) with an inswinger. Soon MI were struggling at 59 for the loss of six wickets as Axar Patel (2/30) dismissed big hitters Kieron Pollard and Corey Anderson.
The match seemed to be done and dusted but Harbhajan Singh (64, 25b, 5×4, 6×6) and debutant left arm spinner Jagadeesha Suchith (34, 21b, 4×4, 2×6) added 100 runs for the seventh wicket to revive the hopes of the Mumbai crowd. Needing 30 off the last over, the turbanator tried his best by hitting Anureet for and six and a four by in the end it was too little too less as they were restricted to 159 for the loss of seven wickets.
Earlier in the day, KXIP set up a daunting total of 177 for the loss of five wickets. After being sent into bat, Virender Sehwag (36, 19b, 6×4, 1×6) and Murali Vijay (35, 29b, 6×4) made most of the powerplay overs. But they lost some momentum as Sehwag and Glenn Maxwell were dismissed in quick succession by Harbhajan Singh (2/20) and Suchith.
After the dismissal of Vijay, David Miller (24, 23b, 3×4) and George Bailey (61 n o, 32b, 4×4, 3×6) stitched together a 46-run partnership for the fourth wicket to take the score past the 130-run mark.
Lasith Malinga (2/34) then came back and got the wickets of Miller and Rishi Dhawan in successive overs, but Bailey continued on his merry way to propel Punjab to 177.
Brief scores
KXIP 177 for five (George Bailey 61 n o, Virender Sehwag 36; Harbhajan Singh 2/20, Lasith Malinga 2/34) beat MI 159 for seven (Harbhajan Singh 64; Mitchell Johnson 2/23, Axar Patel 2/30, Anureet Singh 2/41) by 19 runs