IPL 2019, MI vs KXIP: The worst captaincy move of the day

After securing a clinical victory by 40 runs against SRH away from home, Mumbai Indians returned to Wankhade to face Ravichandran Ashwin’s Kings XI Punjab in a vital Indian Premier League game. In the first leg of this fixture at Mohali, Punjab easily chased down a target of 177 as KL Rahul played a composed knock to take them home. Since then, Punjab had lost only one match and were hoping to climb up the points table with another victory.

Rohit Sharma suffered and injury before the match and Kieron Pollard was named as the stand-in captain. Mumbai Indians won the toss and opted to chase on a flat deck.

KL Rahul and Chris Gayle played cautiously against Mumbai’s pacers initially as only 20 runs came off the first four overs. However after settling in on the pitch both of them went after the bowling aggressively. Rahul played some scintillating strokes against Alzarri Joseph while Gayle muscled his way to a 36 ball 63 before getting dismissed off Jason Behrendorff in the 13th over.

Rahul decided to bat till the end and rotated the strike regularly. But the batsmen at the other end gifted their wickets away at regular intervals and Mumbai slowly inched their way back into the game. However, the 26-year-old's late assault took them to a total of 197 and he finished with a 64 ball century.

Mumbai Indians struggled to get going at the start and were 65-3 at the end of 10 overs. But the arrival of Hardik Pandya decreased the scoreboard pressure and in order to take wickets, Ashwin decided to bowl out Hardus Viljoen. The South-African is known for his slower balls and clever bowling during the death overs and the decision to bowl him out before the 15th over ended up costing Punjab. Pollard was in great touch and he targeted the inexperienced Sam Curran in the death to secure a last-ball victory for his side.

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