Mumbai Indians registered their second win of IPL 2020 after they defeated Kings XI Punjab by 48 runs on Thursday.
It was an all round clinical effort from the Mumbai Indians who have found the rhythm in the tournament from the last week. They might have lost the super over decider against the Royal Challengers Bangalore but gave a tough fight in that match.
After winning the toss, KXIP skipper KL Rahul decided to bowl first at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. Mumbai had a dreadful start as they lost Quinton de Kock and Surya Kumar Yadav within four overs. Skipper Rohit Sharma played cautiously and later struck 70 runs off 45 balls. He not just resurrected his side’s batting, but also reached 5000 runs in IPL in his 187th inning.
In the end, Hardik Pandya and Kieron Pollard ransacked almost every ball for sixes and boundaries and raced to 191/4 in 20 overs.
Kings XI Punjab had a terrific start as they scored 24 off just two overs before Rohit Sharma brought in Jasprit Bumrah in the fifth over. Bumrah gave the first breakthrough by getting rid of in-form Mayank Agarwal for 25 runs.
Punjab lost their second wicket in form of Karun Nair off Krunal Pandya’s delivery and they were restricted to 39/2 in 5.4 overs. KL Rahul also fell for the spin trap as he got out on Rahul Chahar’s delivery and for just 17 runs.
The middle order failed to sustain except Nicholas Pooran’s 44 runs off 27 balls before he got out in the 14th over. Mumbai Indians bowlers had a profitable outing in Abu Dhabi and they exploited all the opportunities in the match.
KXIP batting failed to put up a fight and subsequently, they lost the match by 48 runs. After the win, Mumbai Indians are now leading the points table while Kings XI Punjab find themselves at 6th place with just single win.
Kieron Pollard became the player of the match for his hideous knock of 47 runs in just 20 balls.
