Published: May 03, 2015, 05:33 PM (IST)
Edited: May 03, 2015, 05:44 PM (IST)
Mumbai Indians (MI) have scored 172 for three against Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in Match 35 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2015. They were given a rare good start by the opening pair of Lendl Simmons and Parthiv Patel, with both scoring smart half-centuries. LIVE UPDATES: KXIP vs MI Match 35, IPL 2015
The KXIP fast bowlers had a torrid time with Anureet Singh, Sandeep Sharma and Mitchell Johnson all going wicketless. There was some swing on offer and Sharma got the ball to move around but he didn’t get the accuracy spot on. Patel and Simmons cashed in on this inefficiency of the bowlers. LIVE SCORECARD: KXIP vs MI Match 35 IPL 2015
Finally, it was leg spinner Karanveer Singh who made the first breakthrough by dismissing Patel for 59 off 36 balls. The wicket was very precious as Patel was looking to go berserk and had just smashed a couple of sixes before getting out. Rohit Sharma was the new man to the crease but the wicket ensued a period of lull for MI. Indian Premier League 2015 schedule: IPL 8 match time table with venue details
Both batsmen decided to play very cautiously despite the loss of just a single wicket and didn’t show intent to accelerate till the 17th over. The spinners did a fine job containing the over-cautious batsmen. From overs 13 – 17, MI only added a measly 36 runs which is extremely baffling considering they had only lost a wicket and that they’re a team that desperately need to up the net run rate.
Even after the 17th over the batsmen only managed 8-9 runs per over. In attempt to finally give the last blast, Rohit Sharma decided to take on Mitchell Johnson but only miscued the shot and got out. This brought Kieron Pollard to the crease, but the customary fireworks were absent from his innings. To his credit Sandeep bowled a fine 19th over and got all his balls in the right spots.
Taking his cue, Anureet came back to bowl a fine 20th over. The batsmen failed to get him away at all. Simmons tried his best but only got caught at deep square leg. MI managed to only add just 62 runs in the last eight overs despite having plenty of wickets in hand. Their defensive approach may cost them given KXIP’s explosive batting line up.
Brief scores:
Mumbai Indians 172 for 3 (Lendl Simmons 71, Parthiv Patel 59; Karanveer Singh 1 for 30) vs Kings XI Punjab.
(Rishad D’Souza, a reporter with CricketCountry, gave up hopes of playing Test cricket after a poor gully-cricket career. He now reports on the sport. You can follow @RDcric on Twitter)
