Mumbai Indians beat King’s XI Punjab by 23 runs on Sunday thanks to a strong opening partnership and great death bowling from Lasith Malinga to keep their hopes of getting in to the play-offs alive.
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Lendl Simmons and Parthiv Patel got the away side underway with an opening stand of over 100. The latter took a particular liking to Mitchell Johnson, who ended up going for 41 runs off his four overs.
However, despite the strong start Mumbai were unable to really kick on, and they only got to 172 with three wickets falling. Main hitter Kieron Pollard only coming to the crease in the final two overs. King’s XI’s innings was very similar, although they had a less solid start. Both Maxwell and Sehwag were out for very little in the first five overs.
David Miller gave some hope with 43 from 37 balls, but the South African was unable to quicken his pace in the final stages. As they got closer to the end the team started panicking, with three run outs in the final few overs when needing 48 off the last three. Malinga was also in fine form, restricting them to 17 runs off his final two overs. Saha’s run out off the final ball perhaps sums up the failed chase, with the pair deciding too late to go for a second and ending up paying for it.
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