A batsman-friendly wicket and shorter boundaries at the Wankhede Stadium set the stage for a day of tall tales on Thursday.
Wriddhiman Saha’s merciless assault on the Mumbai Indians bowlers, with 11 fours and three sixes in his 93 not out, swelled Kings XI Punjab’s ambitions as it posting 230 in 20 overs — this season’s highest team total. The visitors notched their seventh win to remain in contention for a knockout place, at fifth place.
Lendl Simmons (59 off 32 balls) kept pace with fellow-opener Parthiv Patel in a 99-run stand for the first wicket in just the ninth over of the MI chase.
The imperious West Indian fell to exceptional anticipation by a leaping Martin Guptill on the ropes. Leg-spinner Rahul Tewatia induced a twist in the plot by tricking Rohit Sharma.
Mohit Sharma and Sandeep Sharma kept their cool in the death overs to pull KXIP over the line. Kieron Pollard muscled his way to 50 not out but ended on the losing side. The home team fell seven runs short at 223-6 in 20 overs, but still retains the pole position.
Breathtaking hitting
Saha justified his promotion to open the innings with breathtaking hitting, displaying all traits of a performer in supreme command of his faculties.
The Punjab team was forced to rework the batting order after the prolific Hashim Amla returned to report for South Africa duty. New Zealander Guptill sparked the assault, while captain Glenn Maxwell swung sixes at will.
Saha made merry too, flashing the bat under the lights to hammer 11 fours, three sixes. Mitchell McClenaghan’s four overs cost 54 runs and 45 were taken off from Harbhajan Singh’s three overs.
Rip-roaring start
Saha and Guptill got off to a rip-roaring start, relishing the bounce off the wicket to hit stunning drives and just 24 balls were needed to cross 50-mark, and six overs yielded 71 runs.
MI turned to leg-spinner Karn Sharma and Guptill succumbed after a power-packed 36 off 18 (5x4, 1x6).
MI’s move to test the batsmen with spin backfired. Maxwell swung across the line for three huge sixes over mid-wicket against a hapless Harbhajan and the visitors cruised to 126 for one after 10 overs.
Bumrah screamed in delight after dismissing the dangerman. Maxwell stepped back for a slash, exposed the stumps and paid the price.
The home team recovered a bit following tight bowling by Jasprit Bumrah (4-0-24-1) before Saha stepped on the gas in the slog overs. KXIP was in command at 173 for one in 15 overs and the opener increasingly looked in savage mood.
