By BV Swagath
Kings XI Punjab finished their campaign in IPL 6 by drubbing the fancy Mumbai Indians by a heavy margin of 50 runs at Dharamsala. So comfortable was the Kings XI victory that Adam Gilchrist playing the last IPL game of his life went on to bowl the final over of the match – of course it was restricted to just the one ball in which he took the last wicket of the Mumbai Indians to fall. The result of this match doesn’t matter much as the Kings XI were already out of the play offs while Mumbai had secured a spot already though they have been pushed down to the second spot.
The victory for the Kings XI Punjab was set up by beautiful knocks by Shaun Marsh and Azhar Mahmood which powered them to a huge total of 183 for 8. Mumbai Indians were never there in the run chase and folded to 133 all out in 19.1 overs for a 50-run defeat.
Asked to bat first, Kings XI recovered from 6 for 2 thanks to a 148-run stand between Shaun Marsh and Azhar Mahmood. Marsh scored 63 from 47 balls with 11 fours while Azhar Mahmood did better than the former with 80 from 44 balls with 8 fours and 4 sixes. A cameo of 20* from 8 balls from Manan Vohra helped the Kings XI to finish with 183 for 8.
The run chase for the Mumbai Indians began on a disastrous note with million-dollar Maxwell out for a third ball duck, caught slashing Praveen Kumar to thirdman. By the 10th over, the Kings XI got three more wickets to reduce the visitors to 69 for 4. Piyush Chawla by this time was in a great spell, first coming up with a caught and bowled offered by Dinesh Karthik and then hitting the off stump of Rohit Sharma in a false cut shot. Kieron Pollard struggled to get going and departed after a 21-ball 22, caught at long on off Sandeep Sharma.
Mumbai Indians ended their innings at 133 for 9 with an injured Dhawal Kulkarni not coming out to bat. Azhar Mahmood who followed his 80 with 2 for 24 got the Man of the Match award.
Toss and Teams: Mumbai Indians have won the toss and asked the Kings XI Punjab to bat first at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala. This match will be the last for Adam Gilchrist in the IPL. For the Mumbai Indians, Tendulkar misses out again because of a hand injury. This is of course an inconsequential match as the Kings have been knocked out because of yesterday’s Sunrisers’ victory.
Mumbai Indians: Aditya Tare, Glenn Maxwell, Dinesh Karthik (WK), Rohit Sharma (C), Kieron Pollard, Ambati Rayudu, Harbhajan Singh, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Lasith Malinga, Rishi Dhawan, Dhawal Kulkarni
Kings XI Punjab: Adam Gilchrist (C&WK), Shaun Marsh, Azhar Mahmood, Mandeep Singh, David Miller, Manan Vohra, Gurkeerat Singh, Piyush Chawla, Praveen Kumar, Parvinder Awana, Sandeep Sharma
