Kings XI Punjab rode on Kumar Sangakkara's determined half-century and leg-spinner Piyush Chawla's disciplined performance to beat table-topper Mumbai Indians by six wickets in their DLF-IPL III tie at the PCA Stadium here on Friday.
Chawla's three-wicket burst helped the home side restrict Mumbai to 154 for nine. Sangakkara then led from the front with a stroke-filled 56 to help Kings overhaul the target with four balls to spare and taste its third win.
Chawla's accuracy helped him pin down the Mumbai Indians batsmen while his straighter delivery reaped rich rewards. He foxed the aggressive Ambati Rayudu in his first over and claimed the crucial wicket of Sachin Tendulkar off his final over.
Earlier, Rayudu (33) had hammered the new ball bowlers Brett Lee and Irfan Pathan, the latter conceding 15 off one over, including three boundaries. Tendulkar (29), who became the second batsman to cross 400 runs in this edition of the IPL, played well before losing patience and getting bowled.
It was left to J.P. Duminy, R. Sathish and Kieron Pollard to take Mumbai Indians past the 150-run mark. Duminy, playing in his first match, made 35 (28b, 1x4, 2x6) before being run out off the last delivery.
Mahela Jayawardene (31) played some classy shots to provide Kings a flying start. He was particularly severe on Lasith Malinga, hitting three fours off the fast bowler's first over. Adrian Barath, the other opener, smashed 33 off just 27 deliveries with four fours and a six before he was trapped in front by Duminy.
The Kings captain then took over. Sangakkara's knock was full of orthodox strokes and improvised ones.
He was adjudged Man-of-the-Match.
The scores:
Mumbai Indians: S. Dhawan b Pathan 2 (4b) , S. Tendulkar b Chawla 29 (25b, 3x4) , A. Rayudu b Chawla 33 (18b, 7x4) , S. Tiwary st. Sangakkara b Chawla 4 (5b) , J.P. Duminy (run out) 35 (28b, 1x4, 2x6) , R. Sathish c Sangakkara b Pathan 20 (17b, 1x4) , K. Pollard b Pathan 18 (14b, 2x4) , Harbhajan c Sangakkara b Ablish 9 (7b, 1x4) , R. McLaren b Ablish 0 (1b) , Zaheer (not out) 0 (1b) ; Extras (lb-3, w-1): 4; Total (for nine wkts. in 20 overs): 154.
Fall of wickets: 1-7, 2-51, 3-59, 4-70, 5-96, 6-134, 7-152, 8-154, 9-154.
Kings XI Punjab bowling: Lee 4-0-38-0, Pathan 4-0-29-3, Ablish 2-0-17-2, Chawla 4-0-24-3, Yuvraj 2-0-15-0, Powar 4-0-28-0.
Kings XI Punjab: A. Barath lbw b Duminy 33 (27b, 4x4, 1x6) , M. Jayawardene c Tiwary b Malinga 31 (18b, 7x4) , K. Sangakkara c Dhawan b Malinga 56 (42b, 6x4, 1x6) , Yuvraj c Duminy b Pollard 15 (21b, 1x4) , I. Pathan (not out) 15 (6b, 1x4, 1x6) , R. Sodhi (not out) 4 (2b) ; Extras (lb-1, w-3): 4; Total (for four wkts. in 19.2 overs): 158.
Fall of wickets: 1-41, 2-87, 3-125, 4-147.
Mumbai Indians bowling: McLaren 2-0-13-0, Zaheer 3.2-0-36-0, Malinga 4-0-36-2, Harbhajan 4-0-34-0, Sathish 2-0-14-0, Duminy 3-0-15-1, Pollard 1-0-9-1.
