Abu Dhabi, (Asian independent) Four-time champions Mumbai Indians (MI) on Thursday cruised to a 48-run win over Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium here. Chasing MI’s total of 191/4 wickets in 20 overs, KXIP only managed to reach 143/8 wickets in 20 overs as a clinical MI bowling attack rarely allowed the batsmen any space to score runs freely.
MI separated KXIP’s star opening pair of KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal early on. Jasprit Bumrah accounted for Agarwal in the fifth over. Karun Nair fell for a duck in the very next over while Rahul Chahar outfoxed KXIP captain and top scorer KL Rahul in the ninth.
Nicholas Pooran kept KXIP’s hopes alive, smashing 44 runs off 27 balls and putting up 41 for the fourth wicket with Glenn Maxwell. It also turned out to be KXIP’s highest partnership and the last one that crossed over into two figures as they wilted after Pooran fell to James Pattinson in the 14th over.
Between the start of the 15th and 19th overs, KXIP scored just 18 runs and lost three wickets and the match slipped away from them.
Earlier, a late blitz from Kieron Pollard and Hardik Pandya helped MI post 191/4. The pair smashed 44 runs off the last two overs to take MI beyond the 190-run mark.
Brief scores: MI 191/4 wkts in 20 overs (Rohit Sharma 70, Kieron Pollard 47; Sheldon Cottrell 1/20) beat KXIP 143/8 wkts in 20 overs (Nicholas Pooran 44, Mayank Agarwal 25; Jasprit Bumrah 2/18) by 48 runs
