The Mumbai Indians completed their biggest run-chase by defeating the Kings XI Punjab at Indore by eight wickets with four and a half overs to spare, thus making it the second fastest run chase of a total of 190+ in IPL history; the first one being MI’s historic run chase of 190 against the Rajasthan Royals in 2014 which helped them reach the play-offs.
The win was MI’s fifth consecutive win of the tournament which took them back on top of the standings. For the Kings XI Punjab, it was their fourth loss on the trot.
Amla’s ton propels KXIP to 198
The Mumbai Indians had won the toss and elected to field first, with KXIP openers Hashim Amla and Shaun Marsh – who was playing his first match of the tournament in place of David Miller – giving them a steady start before the latter departed for 26. Wriddhiman Saha followed him soon, leaving Amla and skipper Glenn Maxwell at the crease.
The two restored momentum for the Kings XI by adding 83 runs from just 33 deliveries for the third wicket. The partnership was broken by Jasprit Bumrah after he bowled out Maxwell for 40 from just 18 balls.
Extra Cover: Amla ton in vain as Buttler fires Mumbai top of IPL table
From then on, Amla provided a brilliant finishing touch and eventually got to his century, making him only the fourth South African batsman to get to an IPL hundred after AB de Villiers, David Miller, and Quinton de Kock. KXIP ended their innings at 198/4 from their 20 overs.
The turning point
In reply, the Mumbai Indians were off to a steady start as openers Parthiv Patel and Jos Buttler hit a couple of big shots to take MI to 21/0 at the end of two overs. However, the real rampage began from the next over onwards when Buttler smashed a boundary and a six off Sandeep Sharma.
Both openers got the momentum they needed and began to hammer the KXIP bowlers, smashing 17 runs in both the 4th as well as the 5th over. By this time, the required run-rate had gone from 9.95 to 8.73. Parthiv began the sixth over by punching a short ball over deep midwicket for a six and followed it with a cracking boundary down the off-side.
Extra Cover: 5 moments from the MI-KXIP match that won't fade away
The next delivery was a wide, thus giving Mumbai Indians their highest powerplay score in all IPLs at 79, thus bettering their previous score of 78 which was scored back during the inaugural edition of the IPL against the Chennai Super Kings.
Stoinis eventually made amends for his poor start to the over by dismissing Parthiv Patel for 37 off just 18 deliveries. However, the opening partnership of 81 had set the tone for the Mumbai Indians and gave them the upper hand.
Buttler and Rana get the job done
After Parthiv Patel’s dismissal, Jos Buttler was joined in the crease by Nitish Rana. The Englishman was already well settled and began to go after the Punjab bowlers as he reached his maiden IPL fifty in just 24 deliveries. Nitish Rana also provided him brilliant assistance by hitting one six after another and the match was gradually slipping away from KXIP’s hands.
Buttler was eventually dismissed by Mohit Sharma during the 14th over after scoring 77 from 37 deliveries, his highest T20 score. However, by that time, the match had already been pocketed by the Mumbai Indians as they now required just 33 to win with 41 balls remaining.
Extra Cover: IPL 2017: KXIP vs MI, 5 things that went wrong for Kings XI Punjab
After Buttler’s dismissal, Hardik Pandya came out to join Rana. In the first ball of the 15th over, Rana raced to his third fifty of the competition in only 29 deliveries by edging out a six off Ishant Sharma.
Pandya then smashed Sharma for a six and two boundaries in the final three deliveries of the over to keep MI within an inch of victory. Rana then finished off in style by smashing a six over long on to script a brilliant win for the Mumbai Indians, and remained unbeaten for 62 off 34 deliveries, hitting seven sixes and not even a single four.
Jos Buttler was awarded the Man of the Match for his 37-ball knock of 77. The Mumbai Indians now take on Delhi Daredevils at Mumbai on Saturday while the Kings XI Punjab lock horns with the Gujarat Lions on Sunday.
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