IPL: Punjab fight back to restrict Mumbai at 176/7

Mohali, March 30 (IANS) An impressive bowling effort helped Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) restrict Mumbai Indians at 176/7 in their Indian premier League (IPL) clash at the PCA IS Bindra Stadium here on Saturday.

Mohammed Shami, Hardus Viljoen and Andrew Tye scalped two wickets each but leaked runs, while Murugan Ashwin impressed with figures of 2/25 from his four overs.

On the other hand, Mumbai were helped by valuable contributions from Quinton de Kock (60 off 39) and Hardik Pandya (31 off 19) while skipper Rohit Sharma also chipped in with 32 off 18 balls.

It was the regular jolts by Punjab bowlers which hurt Mumbai's chances of putting a huge total.

Asked to bat, openers de Kock and Sharma gave a perfect start to Mumbai, putting 50 runs in the first five overs. However, Viljoen then dealt the first breakthrough by trapping Sharma plumb in front in the sixth over.

Murugan also struck soon to send back new batsman Suryakumar Yadav (11).

de Kock and Yuvraj Singh then anchored Mumbai's innings with a 58-run partnership before Shami cut short the former's stay.

With 126 runs on board, Mumbai lost Yuvraj for 18 when the southpaw holed out to Shami off Murugan.

Mumbai then lost Keiron Pollard (7) and Krunal Pandya (10) cheaply, but Hardik Pandya once again proved his worth by smashing a quickfire 19-ball 31 runs to help his team post a fighting total.

Brief scores

Mumbai Indians: 176/7 (Quinton de Kock 60, Rohit Sharma 32; Murugan Ashwin 2/25) vs Kings XI Punjab