Parthiv, Rayudu script Mumbai Indians’ win over Kings XI Punjab

Mumbai Indians secured a 25-run victory over the Kings XI Punjab in their Indian Premier League clash at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Mohali yesterday.
Mumbai Indians posted 189 for six with man-of-the-match Parthiv Patel (81) and Ambati Rayudu (65) providing the spine of the total after Punjab skipper David Miller had won the toss and elected to bowl first.
In reply, the pace trio of Tim Southee (4-0-28-2), Mitchell McLenaghan (4-0-32-2) and Jasprit Bumrah (4-0-26-3) restricted the Kings XI to 164 for seven.
Miller’s decision to bowl first looked a good one when Sandeep Sharma (4-0-20-1) had Rohit Sharma (0) edging to Nikhil Naik behind the stumps off the second ball of the match but Patel and Rayudu put together a fortuitous second-wicket stand of 137 off 88 balls as the Kings XI became the architects of their own demise.
Patel was given a life on 15 when Mitchell Johnson (4-0-43-1) had Patel caught at fine-leg off a no-ball before being given another life on 66 when Mohit Sharma put down a difficult chance running back from mid-off.
Sandwiched in between, Patel survived an anxious moment when a stumping decision was referred to the third umpire with his score on 32.
Rayudu was given a chance too, on 33, when Axar Patel dropped the right-hander off Pardeep Sahu (3-0-35-0) in the ninth over. But the pair used their chances to great effect, bringing up their century stand off 71 balls before Rayudu was dismissed by Patel (4-0-41-1) after facing 37 balls with four boundaries and four maximums.
Patel and Jos Buttler (24) then added 37 off 21 balls for the third wicket with Buttler striking three cheeky boundaries and a massive six over mid-wicket before being flummoxed by a slower ball from Sharma (4-0-38-3).
Sharma kept the score below the 200-run mark with an excellent final over, conceding just four runs while claiming the wickets of Kieron Pollard (10) and Hardik Pandya (4) off the final two balls of the innings.
In reply, the home side felt that this could be there night when Murali Vijay (19) was dropped in the first over by Pandya off Southee as the opening batsman went on to strike three boundaries and a six before being well-caught by Buttler in the covers off a ball from Southee that reached the heavens.
Manan Vohra (7), who contributed just a single to the opening stand of 20 with Vijay, did not last too much longer before being caught at backward point by Buttler off Bumrah.
But Glenn Maxwell, who scored his first half-century of the tournament, and his countryman, Shaun Marsh (45), went about resurrecting the innings with a stand of 89 off 61 balls before Marsh offered a catch to Rayudu on the boundary off Southee.
Maxwell, who brought up his fifty off 33 balls, added just six more runs before playing Bumrah onto his stumps for 56 off 39 balls with five fours and a 100-metre six. Miller, who ended unbeaten on 30 off 17 balls, was unable to see his side home as Bumrah and McClenaghan claimed four wickets in the final three overs.
Mumbai now have three victories under their belt from seven matches while the Kings XI remain rock-bottom with just a single win from six starts.
Brief scores
Mumbai Indians 189 for 6 (P Patel 81, A Rayudu 65; M Sharma 3-38)
beat Kings XI Punjab 164 for 7 (G Maxwell 56, S Marsh 45, David Miller 30*; J Bumrah 3-26) by 25 runs