Published: May 03, 2015, 07:31 PM (IST)
Edited: May 04, 2015, 07:34 AM (IST)
Mumbai Indians (MI) have added to their tally of wins after beating the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) by 23 runs in Match 35 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2015. Playing, at home, KXIP were at no point in the drivers seat during the chase. LIVE UPDATES: KXIP vs MI Match 35, IPL 2015
Virender Sehwag was the first man to be dismissed and he went cheaply, manging to put just two runs on the board off five deliveries. Glenn Maxwell was the next man at the crease and he scored a couple of good looking boundaries but went for the reverse sweep one time too many and paid the price by holing out to short third man off Jagadeesha Suchith’s bowling for 12 runs. LIVE SCORECARD: KXIP vs MI Match 35 IPL 2015
The need of the moment for KXIP was a good solid partnership and that is exactly what Marali Vijay and David Miller provided. They built on a decent partnership but they didn’t score a rate threatening enough. Just when it appeared like the two were closing in on Mumbai, Harbhajan Singh made the breakthrough, getting rid of Vijay for 39 off 34 balls. Indian Premier League 2015 schedule: IPL 8 match time table with venue details
Vijay’s wicket saw the introduction of George Bailey to the crease. Together, with Miller he continued to add the runs at a slow rate with the asking rate climbing up with every passing over. The final nail in the coffin was probably when Miller got out to Lasith Malinga in the 17th over.
In the last three overs Mumbai Indians had 49 runs to defend and with Bailey at the crease, there was still a glimmer of hope. However the MI bowlers ensured he couldn’t pull off a miracle innings. In fact, the pressure got to him and he was run out in the penultimate over. In the final over, KXIP were left a near-impossible 33 runs to get and Vinay Kumar made sure they didn’t get close.
Earlier, Mumbai Indians scored 172 for three against Kings XI Punjab. They were given a rare good start by the opening pair of Lendl Simmons and Parthiv Patel, with both scoring smart half-centuries.
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.
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.
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.
Brief scores:
Mumbai Indians 172 for 3 (Lendl Simmons 71, Parthiv Patel 59; Karanveer Singh 1 for 30) beat Kings XI Punjab 149 for 7 (Murali Vijay 39, David Miller 43; Lasith Malinga 2 for 31) by 23 runs.
(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)
