Kings XI Punjab stun Mumbai Indians by 3 runs

DURBAN: Yusuf Abdulla versus Jean Paul Duminy -- a packed house at the Kingsmead couldn’t have asked for better drama in the last over. Duminy cracked, with eight to get off three balls, local boy Yusuf celebrated, and so did the 17,000 odd in the stadium.

It was super drama, and at the end of it all, Kings XI were over the moon. They had snatched a superb three-run victory which has brought them well in contention for a semis berth.

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A target of 120 never looked menacing, but Yuvraj’s boys were just not ready to give up. They removed Sanath Jayasuriya and Sachin Tendulkar early, and thereafter, it was a fight to the finish. Duminy fought on with wickets falling at the other end, but the Kings men never lost hope.

With 17 to get off the last two, Abdulla was about to bowl the penultimate over, when the message came from the bench to hold him back. Piyush Chawla bowled the over, got Harbhajan Singh’s wicket, and Kings XI looked favourites yet again.

Still Duminy was there, standing tall at the other end, but Abdulla showed why he is rated so highly in South Africa. The local boy mostly pitched up in the last over, and even Duminy couldn’t find the necessary elevation, and the game was Kings’.

Earlier, Kings XI innings never really took off on the slow pitch with Harbhajan striking early. And when Duminy had the wicket of Yuvraj Singh (10), Mohali were firmly on the back foot.

Wickets kept falling, but Kumar Sangakkara (45 not out off 44 balls) realised pretty early that there was no point going for big shots and giving the wicket away.

He buckled down, played the ball on merit, and looked to take the singles so that Kings XI Punjab at least stay in the hunt.

If the pitch was one of the reasons behind Mumbai Indian’s slow progress, the other surely was Lasith Malinga (2-10). The Kings XI top-order looked to play him out, but once he came back for the second spell, he was virtually unplayable.

The yorkers zoomed in one after the other and the Kings XI batsmen had no idea how to save their toes, let alone scoring runs.

It was only due to Sangakkara’s efforts that Mohali managed to set a target of 120 and at the end of it all, that proved enough.


Source:http://ipl.timesofindia.indiatimes.com