Mumbai Indians (MI) got back to winning ways as they thwarted Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) by 25 runs in Match 21 of IPL 2016 at the PCA Stadium in Mohali on Monday. KXIP have now lost their fifth match in this current season of the IPL. For Mumbai Indians, this win was crucial as it will give them a major boost to their confidence and they will want to carry on with the momentum they gained after defeating KXIP.
Even a good effort from the out-of-form Glenn Maxwell and Shaun Marsh could not save the day for KXIP. Maxwell scored 56 runs from 39 balls and his return to form was crucial for the home side. But Jasprit Bumrah bowled a slower one and Maxwell dragged it on to his stumps and that was the end of the match, as the hosts needed 50 runs from the last three overs.
Bumrah was the pick of the bowlers as he bagged three wickets in his spell of four overs and he was economical too. Tim Southee and Mitchell McClenaghan picked up a couple of wickets each as well.
The run chase was always going to be difficult. The wicket was getting slower and slower and it needed a couple of special efforts from the KXIP batsmen to get to chase that big total down.
The only positive that KXIP will take away from this game is Maxwell and David Miller's form with the bat. This is going to help the Punjab outfit in the second half of the tournament.
Earlier, Miller won the toss and asked Mumbai Indians to bat first on a wicket that was ideal for batting. Mumbai Indians got off to a terrible start as their in-form skipper Rohit Sharma was dismissed for a duck off the second ball of the first over. Sandeep Sharma managed to draw Rohit into a shot and he edged it. The keeper Nikhil Naik made no mistake and held on to the catch comfortably.
Ambati Rayudu and Parthiv Patel then built a brilliant partnership of 137 runs from just 85 balls. Mumbai Indians could not score much during the powerplay but these two batsmen really turned on the heat during the middle overs.
Patel went on to score 81 runs from 58 balls and Rayudu managed 65 from just 37 balls. The duo hit six sixes and 14 boundaries between them and that put a lot of pressure on the KXIP bowlers. Patel was lucky to survive earlier as he was caught off a no-ball. This was Patel's highest score in the IPL and he was adjudged the man of the match for his heroics with the bat.
The platform was set for the rest of the batsmen to come and finish the innings off with some meaty blows. Jos Buttler did that as he scored a quickfire 24 from 13 balls towards the end of the innings.
KXIP bowlers pulled things back towards the back end of the innings. The last two overs produced only 13 runs. Mohit Sharma bowled a brilliant last over. Two wickets and just four runs came from that last over.
