Kings XI Punjab delivered a combined performance from their top-order batsmen and bowling department to win fourth-straight game in Mohali with eight wickets to spare.
According to ESPNcricinfo report, the Kings XI bowlers recovered from a position of distress to restrict Mumbai Indians to a gettable total of 176. After that they paced their innings to near perfection.
KL Rahul overcame a difficult period of batting to collect his maiden fifty of the season, while Chris Gayle and Mayank Agarwal chipped in with crucial scores of 43 and 40 respectively. No. 4 David Miller made a nifty, unbeaten 15.
Earlier in the day, Mumbai rode on Quinton de Kock’s attractive 60 off 39 to post 91 in their first ten overs. But their batsmen failed to capitalise on the base provided by the Mumbai top order, and finished with an under-par score.
The win was Kings XI’s second in three games, while Mumbai suffered their second loss in three matches.
M Ashwin – in for the injured Varun Chakravarthy – and R Ashwin went for a combined economy rate of only 6.38. The senior Ashwin failed to get any wickets, but Murugan’s wrong’uns dismissed Suryakumar Yadav (11) and Yuvraj Singh (18). At both times, Mumbai were pegged right when they were changing gears.
At 62 for 1 after six overs, Mumbai were in a solid position to consoliate on de Kock and Rohit Sharma’s start, but the quick wickets of Rohit and Yadav forced de Kock and the incoming Yuvraj to play the spinners carefully.
The tight work done by the Ashwins though was slightly undone by their pacers Each quick went for over 10 per over. They bore the brunt in the first six, and then failed to stop the boundaries in the middle and back end too. Mohammad Shami, in particular, was targeted by de Kock.
