Back on home turf at Wankhede Stadium, the venue of their unbeaten run
the previous year, Mumbai Indians' batsmen held their nerve at the death
to give their franchise their first victory of the season in six
attempts. Mumbai Indians needed 41 off the last three overs but Kieron
Pollard and Aditya Tare catapulted their side home with five deliveries
to spare and ended Kings XI Punjab's victorious five-game run.
The home side lost their openers cheaply before thirties from CM Gautam,
Rohit Sharma and Corey Anderson revived them. The asking-rate climbed
again after Rohit and Anderson departed in the 16th and 17th overs, but
Pollard and Tare were around to ensure Mumbai Indians were not letting
it slip away.
It was Tare who wrested back momentum for Mumbai Indians when he lofted L
Balaji for four over extra cover and pulled him over deep midwicket for
six in the 18th over, which went for 16. Kings XI had Mitchell Johnson
for the 19th, and Pollard has often been found wanting against quality
pace from the likes of Dale Steyn.
But the allrounder never let Johnson get on top, lifting the first ball
of the over, a full delivery, for six over long-on. Johnson followed up
with a wide down the leg side. Pollard ran twos off the next two
deliveries before inside-edging a yorker for four. A pull to deep square
leg for four more and a single to keep strike made it 20 off the over.
Pollard completed formalities by launching Sandeep Sharma's first ball
of the final over for six over long-off. He ended on 28 off 12 while
Tare was unbeaten on 16 from 6.
Gautam and Rohit had come together at 23 for 2 after the openers
departed to Sandeep's swing and added 47 in 41 before Gautam fell to
Rishi Dhawan. Rohit and Anderson took a six each off Dhawan's next over
but the real push Mumbai Indians needed came in the 13th over bowled by
Akshar Patel. Anderson slogged the left-arm spinner for four consecutive
boundaries, and the 20-run over brought down the asking-rate to
eight-and-a-half from ten.
Kings XI fought back as Balaji, Johnson and Dhawan put in four tight
overs, which earned the wickets of Rohit and Anderson. The rate shot up
to nearly 14 after Dhawan completed his spell in the 17th, but Mumbai
Indians had more ammunition in the form of Pollard and Tare.
They also had Lasith Malinga, who gave away just eight runs combined in
the 18th and 20th overs of the Kings XI innings. It meant that despite
taking 20 off the penultimate over - bowled jointly by Zaheer Khan and
Pollard after the left-armer left the field midway clutching his
shoulder - Kings XI were not able to have the big finish they needed.
Their innings went similarly as Mumbai Indians' was to, barring that
final surge. The openers could not do much before Glenn Maxwell and
Wriddhiman Saha rebuilt. Even as Saha struggled to rotate the strike,
Maxwell kept hitting fours and sixes with ease. He had motored to 45 off
26 before he mishit Harbhajan Singh to long-on.
George Bailey's move to promote himself ahead of David Miller did not
work. Saha took over now, moving from 12 off 23 to 59 off 47, sweeping
and pulling Pollard for three fours in the 14th over. His acceleration
wasn't enough in the end.
Abhishek Purohit is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
Feeds: Abhishek Purohit
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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