MUMBAI Indians on Thursday defeated Kings XI Punjab at the Sheikh Abu Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi with the KL Rahul-led Punjab falling short of 48 runs in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020. Mumbai Indians dominated the proceedings after Kieron Pollard and Hardik Pandya gave them the perfect finish with the willow in the first innings.
Courtesy a cracking half-century by Rohit Sharma and blistering knocks by Pollard (47* off 20) and Hardik (30* off 11), Mumbai Indians posted a mammoth 191-4 in 20 overs. Skipper Rohit went on to smash 70 off 45 after having a difficult start to his innings. However, Rohit, Pollard and Hardik took down the KXIP bowling unit to pile on the runs in the latter half of the first innings.
Chasing 192, Kings XI Punjab were off to a shaky start as they lost in-form Mayank Agarwal for 25 whereas Karun Nair, at no. 3, scored a three-ball duck to mount more pressure on the batters. KL Rahul soon followed suit after an uncanny 19-ball 17. While Nicholas Pooran launched two huge sixes and a couple of boundaries in his 27-ball 44 but it was too little too late for the Punjab outfit.
Glenn Maxwell mostly struggled in his stay at the crease as he scored 18-ball 11 with Sarfaraz Khan and Jimmy Neesham also failing with the bat.
With the thumping win, Mumbai Indians get back to winning ways after losing two out of their three matches played so far and the Rohit Sharma-led MI would be hoping to carry forward the momentum in IPL 2020.
For Kings XI Punjab, they have now lost three matches in IPL 2020 after going down against Delhi Capitals in Super Over and against Rajasthan Royals in what was a record-chase in IPL.
Mumbai Indians next play Sunrisers Hyderabad in Sharjah on Sunday whereas Kings XI Punjab face Chennai Super Kings in Dubai on the same day.
