Simmons ton snaps Kings XI run
Mohali, May 21: With Kings XI Punjab in explosive form in IPL- 7, it needed a special effort to stop them. Lendl Simmons answered the call for the Mumbai Indians on Wednesday, leading the way with an unbeaten 61ball century to help his side to a seven- wicket win at the PCA Stadium here.
Chasing the 157- run target, the West Indian opener took charge of the Mumbai innings with 14 boundaries and two sixes as the visitors overhauled the target with an over to spare. Simmons’ hundred was the first in the current season.
Earlier, Kings XI Punjab recovered after a middleorder collapse to post a challenging 156/ 8. Skipper George Bailey top- scored with 39 while Manan Vohra and Shaun Marsh contributed 36 and 30 respectively.
Sent in to bat, Kings XI Punjab were strongly placed at 90/ 2 after the first 10 overs, but lost their way after that before Bailey anchored the innings with some calculatied batting.
For Mumbai Indians, Jasprit Bumrah ( 2/ 31) and Shreyas Gopal ( 2/ 32) were the most successful bowlers.
Kings XI Punjab were off with a bang as Virender Sehwag launched the innings with a couple of sixes — the first one soaring over extra cover before the batsman dispatched a slower one straight over the bowler’s head.
But the opener’s innings was cut short when he was run out in an unfortunate dismissal by Praveen Kumar who, after the ball hit non- striker Manan Vohra’s foot, run back to knock the bails off.
In came Shaun Marsh and, in the season’s first appearance, raced to 30 off just 17 balls with the help of two sixes and as many fours. Vohra too went along nicely to keep the run rate healthy.
But the 64- run partnership between Vohra and Marsh ended when the Aussie went for a heave towards the on side only to be bowled by Krishmar Santokie.
That triggered a collapse as Kings XI Punjab lost a flurry of wickets, including the big one of leading scorer Glenn Maxwell to Shreyas Gopal, to be stuttering at 116/ 6 in the 17th over. Bailey then added 38 runs in just 3.2 overs with Rishi Dhawan, who hit a couple of fours in his nineball 14, to help KXIP’s cause.