MUMBAI CONTINUE RUN
Rohit, Harbhajan and Ojha shine as hosts register a four-run victory over Punjab
Mumbai Indians maintained their unbeaten home record by prevailing over fighting Kings XI Punjab by four runs. Skipper Rohit Sharma 79 not out (39b, 6x4, 6x6) starred with the bat to take hosts to 174/3 and his spinners Harbhajan Singh (3/14) and Pragyan Ojha (2/22) responded well to restrict the visitors to 170/9 in their ninth Indian Premier League match Punjab at Wankhede stadium here on Monday.
Skipper Adam Gilchrist dropped himself to make way for Shaun Marsh but the ploy didn’t work well as Marsh scored just 10 and David Hussey led side leaked plenty in the death overs.
Chasing 175, KXIP lost inform Mandeep Singh (9) and Manan Vohra (1) early to struggle at 16/2 in the third over. Hussey (34, 18b, 5x4, 1x6) along with Marsh got things going by hammering Lasith Malinga for 15 runs and Dhawal Kulkarni for 17 as KXIP raced to 55/2 in six overs.
But, Kieron Pollard pulled of a right-handed stunner at the long on boundary to send Marsh back in Pragyan Ojha’s first ball and arrest the momentum. Hussey also fell at similar position, offering an easy catch to Mitchell Johnson in Ojha’s next over as the visitors’ chase derailed at 79/5.
David Miller 56 (34b, 1x4, 5x6) tried to revive the chase with some blistering strokes but lost out of partners at the other end. The South African left hander was dismissed by Mitchell Johnson in the penultimate ball of the 18th over. Praveen Kumar kept the 1x6) and Kieron Pollard 20 (21b, 1x4, 1x6) put the paddle on the accelerator.
Mumbai Indians smashed 72 runs of the last five overs. The last over yielded 27 runs with Sharma smashing Hussey (0/32 in two overs) for three sixes and two fours in the last over.
Kings XI had a good start with Praveen Kumar (1/24) and Azhar Mahmood (0/32) bowling tightly in the powerplays.