IPL 2016: Parthiv-Rayudu show takes Mumbai Indians past Kings XI Punjab
Parthiv Patelâs 81 off 58 and Ambati Rayuduâs 65 off 37 helped Mumbai Indians defeat Kings XI Punjab by 25 runs at Mohali on Monday. Chasing 190 for a win, Kings XI Punjab came close to a win on the back of Glenn Maxwellâs 56 off 39 balls, but MI held their nerves to win the game in the end.
Brief Scores: MI 189/6 in 20 overs (Parthiv 81(58), Rayudu 65(37), Mohit 3/38) beat KXIP 164/7 in 20 overs (Maxwell 56(39), Marsh 45(34), Bumrah 3/26) by 25 runs
The last time Kings XI Punjab won a game in the IPL, they were chasing 153. Murali Vijay and Manan Vohra scored half-centuries that day against Rising Pune Supergiants. But this time, the total was 190, and the required run rate was 9.5 runs per over. A good start was a must to chase down the target, but it never arrived.
Krunal Pandya dropped Vijay in the third ball of the innings to return the gifts they received in the first innings. Vijay survived a run-out in the third over before whipping Tim Southee over the square leg for a massive six. However, the Tamil Nadu batsmanâs luck ran out a ball later as his search for another maximum ended his innings. Southee pulled his length back after seeing the ball flying into the stands, and although Vijay jumped out of the crease, he only managed to sky the ball to give Buttler a catch. Vohra also followed suit shortly as he perished in the fifth over giving Buttler another catch.
At 32/2, Kings XI looked lost in the middle. But the power- packed middle-order of Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, and David Miller gave them hope, at least on paper. Both Marsh and Maxwell started slowly with singles and twos initially before upping the ante by scoring 62 off seven overs. Although the score looked healthy at 102/2 at the end of 13 overs, Kings XI still needed 88 off 42 balls for a win.
Marsh and Maxwell deposited Harbhajan and Southee into the stands in back-to-back overs, but just before the end of the 15th over, Marsh fell to Southee to diminish Punjabâs hopes. Although some hope remained with Maxwell still at the crease, Bumrah removed the Aussie in the 18th over to finish off the match. Nikhil Naik, Axar Patel, and Mitchell Johnson also departed before the end of the innings to mark Kings XI's fifth loss of the season.Â
Earlier, bottom-dwellers Kings XI Punjab welcomed reigning champions Mumbai Indians to Mohali for their sixth game of the season, having registered only one win in five. With the team struggling to find a winning combination, Kings XI skipper David Miller once again tinkered with the side, this time bringing in Mitchell Johnson and Pardeep Sahu for Kyle Abbott and Rishi Dhawan.
Mumbai Indians, on the other hand, continued their style of slow starts to the tournament and came into the game in a marginally better position than their rivals, with two wins from six games. Rohit Sharma kept faith with the same squad that suffered a defeat against Delhi Daredevils on Saturday. Kings XI won the toss and opted to field first after losing four matches in the tournament batting first.
7, 7 and 5 were the scores of Rohit Sharma batting first in this season of IPL, and he once again continued his terrible form batting first, this time getting out for a duck to Sandeep Sharma on the second ball of the innings. The opener tried to lace the ball through point, but only managed a thin edge on the ball to give Nikhil Naik an easy catch behind the stumps.
Sandeep Sharmaâs swing was causing all sorts of problems for the Mumbai batsmen and they managed just 11 runs off his first three overs. However, Mitchell Johnson helped them in easing the pressure by conceding two boundaries in the second over before coming back in the fifth over to gift three more to the Mumbai batsmen. Johnson was in the mood as he gave Parthiv Patel an extra life in the fifth over by bowling a no-ball as Parthiv got caught at deep square leg. Parthiv again found the fielder the next ball, this time on the free-hit.
The left-hander made the most of the opportunity and formed a 137-run partnership with Ambati Rayudu for the second wicket. At the other end, Rayudu, who had been getting good starts in the tournament, made the most of his start this time and scored 65 off 37 balls to take the team forward. With Kings XI spinners giving freebies, Parthiv and Rayudu made merry in the middle and took the scoring rate, which was near five in the fifth over, to 8.41 by the 12th over. Apart from Sandeep Sharma, all the Kings XI bowlers were taken to the cleaners by the duo, who played some classical shots.
With the team in a comfortable position at 125/1 at the end of 14 overs, Rayudu decided to cash in on the bowlers and went after Axar Patel. Two flat hits over the long-on boundary followed, but his attempt to hit