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Mumbai Indians completed a confident 23-run victory against Kings XI Punjab at the Wankhede Stadium after the batsmen had set a challenging total and a laboured innings from a weakened Paul Valthaty worked against Shaun Marsh’s virtuosity and enlarged the target of 160. Distinctly contrasting displays of fielding from both sides emerged as the difference; even as Kings XI dropped several at the death, the Indians, abetted by an omnipresent Kieron Pollard, hastened the death for Punjab with enterprising catching.

On a dryish wicket which bore the odd crack, Adam Gilchrist won the toss and invited Mumbai to bat first in the 40^th match of the IPL. While Kings XI Punjab retained the same eleven, Mumbai Indians brought in Tirumalsetti Suman for the underperforming Rajagopal Satish and Abu Nechim Ahmed, in view of the bounce expected from the Wankhede wicket, for Ali Murtaza.

After a quiet first over had been bowled by Bhargav Bhatt, in which flight kept Sachin Tendulkar at bay, Praveen Kumar was unlucky to have Davy Jacobs dropped at slip. But the South African did not last too long, and neither did the Indians’ sedate start. Castling Jacobs with a classical left-arm orthodox bowler’s staple, Bipul Sharma broke through the Mumbai Indians defence as early as the third over. Punjab kept things tight in the powerplay, conceding just 35 runs, less than a run a ball.

Ambati Rayudu and Tendulkar, however, did not plan to buckle down or anything of the sort. Swiping in wide arcs, the two took advantage of some errant bowling from Bhatt, and carved boundaries on either side. Kumar and Ryan Harris, too, fell under the cosh as a result of the leeway granted. By the halfway mark, a half-century partnership between Rayudu and Tendulkar had taken the Indians to 67/1.

Rayudu was all about the lightning flourish of the blade, as he took Kumar to all parts, lofting, cutting and biffing plainly at times. The bruise on Bhatt’s hands, which took a pasting when he stuck his hands out unwisely in trying to intercept a Rayudu bludgeon, would testify to the brute force involved. Soon after Rayudu reached a blisteringly made fifty with a loft that went into the boundary through a misjudged catch attempt from Harris, he holed out to deep midwicket, and Kings XI had held on to a catch on their fourth attempt!

Kieron Pollard came in and set up shop with minimal ado. Firing it through Piyush Chawla’s hands, he opened his account, and would biff a couple of sixers that did not seem to have any effort behind them whatsoever, apart from the ton of muscle that propelled it. Pollard’s (20) liking for the wicket boiled up to his head and he blew up with a headless flail to a short one that looped up to point. Tendulkar, in the meanwhile, came alive after having been in hibernation through Rayudu’s rampage, and no sooner had he reached his fifty with a manufactured sweep did he slice a full toss from Harris to deep cover. Andrew Symonds and Rohit Sharma, Mumbai’s ‘diabolical duo’, found themselves with the baton at the finishing stretch. While the Aussie was unable to drill any past the square, Sharma serenely cashed in three well-times boundaries to take the Indians up to 159/5.

Kings XI got off to a painfully slow start in their chase, as the Gichrist-Valthaty partnership – the mainstay of many of Punjab’s wins this season – died an early stillbirth. After Harbhajan Singh bowled a couple short which Valthaty was not in a frame of being to capitalise on, Gilchrist was struck in front for duck when he tried to sweep a full one. Valthaty, meanwhile, was batting like a former champion pugilist unable to make his peace with a loss of coordination. Swiping in desperation at everything remotely within a swinging arc, he struggled like an invalid recovering from a sapping bout of illness. Having punched a few just over the infield’s head and been dropped once by Munaf Patel at point, he had crawled to 8 off 23 balls before he found the long-suffering boundary hit through point in the eight over. Kings XI, at 24/1 at the end of the PowerPlay, had a long chase ahead.

As Valthaty attempted to dance with two left feet, Shaun Marsh was able to keep the chase on track through skilled anticipation. Knowing full well Malinga’s standard full-length delivery, he plonked his front foot down and sent a couple racing even as Abu Nechim Ahmed got pulled powerfully. As Valthaty’s hard work in the middle began to bear fruit, the middle of his bat got some business with a straight six off Tirumalsetti Suman, and Kings XI had ameliorated the rate required from the last 10 down to 9.8 per over.

Everything about Valthaty’s presence in the middle seemed on the verge of something. After cracking another straight six off Symonds, he sent one straight to a riled Pollard at long on to end his 38-ball innings of 33. The Mumbai Indians’ fielding was coming to the fore, as David Hussey (2) soon fell, after a tattered stay, attempting an unruly slog that Sharma dove forward and plucked it close to the ground. By the time Dinesh Karthik (1) had missed a Pollard delivery in front of leg, the required rate, at 12 per over, had climbed to ungainly proportions.

A promising partnership began to take shape as Marsh and Abhishek Nayar (14) caressed five boundaries, but their 20-run stand was put to an end by Harbhajan Singh with the help of a diving Symonds. However, with Marsh still there and smiting balls with panache, the equation of 47 from 24 was within conceivable bounds for Kings XI. Bipul Sharma, the last legitimate batting hope to support Marsh, became Malinga’s first wicket when one finally got through into the stumps. Marsh succumbed to Malinga in the 19^th over, when hope became too implausible to sustain. Pollard completed a string of catches to send Harris back, and the match was officially won in a forgone manner.

Mumbai Indians rocketed back up to the top spot in the table, their home away from home. At the moment, the Indians trump the standings in all departments, holding both Caps, Orange and Purple. With a tragic Pune Warriors beckoning in a couple of days’ time, the Indians would seem to have a pleasant win coming up.

Kings XI Punjab has lost two in a row, and have an uphill task to stay within reach of the playoffs. Their fielding came loose in the death and the batting continues to fail to rally around a destitute Shaun Marsh. They have an away match against Royal Challengers in four days’ time, and have issues to iron out there.

Teams:

Kings XI Punjab:  Adam Gilchrist, Paul Valthaty, Shaun Marsh, Dinesh Karthik, David Hussey, Abhishek Nayar, Praveen Kumar, Piyush Chawla, Bhargav Bhatt, Bipul Sharma, Ryan Harris.

Mumbai Indians:  Sachin Tendulkar, Davy Jacobs, Rohit Sharma, Ambati Rayudu, Kieron Pollard, Andrew Symonds, Tirumalsetti Suman, Harbhajan Singh, Munaf Patel, Lasith Malinga, Abu Nechim.

Mini Scorecard:

Mumbai Indians 159/5 (20 overs, 7.95rpo)
A Rayudu 51 (37) R Harris 2/33
S Tendulkar 51 (45) P Chawla 2/37

Kings XI Punjab 136/8 (20 overs, 6.80 runs per over)
S Marsh 61 (47) M Patel 2/18
P Valthaty 33 (38) L Malinga 2/19

Mumbai Indians won by 23 runs

File Photograph Copyright: Gayatri Naik

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