The match between Mumbai Indians (MI) and Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) was a highly anticipated one as the little master Sachin Tendulkar was all set to make his comeback after five matches. He sure did play and also helped the top order to fire but could not inspire MI to win the match as they crashed to their fourth defeat of the tournament.
Mumbai posted a target of 164 and the Punjab side romped home in style with six wickets in hand and three balls to spare.

Here are some hits and flops of the match:

Kings XI Punjab

Hits:

Openers: The opening pair of Saini and Mandeep played beautifully at the top of the order and built and stitched a brilliant 48 runs partnership in 6.2 overs to build a solid platform for the middle order batsmen. Saini scored 30 off 25 deliveries including five fours whereas Mandeep scored 24 off 21 deliveries laced with three boundaries.

Shaun Marsh: The most consistent batsmen of the Punjab side once again played a major role in his team’s victory. He brought Punjab home single handedly with his knock of 68 off just 40 deliveries which included five fours and three sixes.

Flops:

Azhar Mahmood: After putting up a great effort in the last match against Royal Challengers Bangalore, it was expected he would repeat his feat. But he failed with both bat and ball as he gave away 39 runs from four overs and then was out for just 10 runs.

Mumbai Indians

Hits:

James Franklin: He opened the innings for MI and played for most part of the innings. He scored 79 of 51 deliveries which consisted of six fours and four huge blows over the top of the rope.

Dinesh Karthik: He was looking dangerous and had scored 35 off 20 deliveries before unfortunately getting run out. His 35 run knock was laced with five fours and he stayed on Mumbai the story could have been different.

Flops:

Munaf Patel: In the absence of Lasith Malinga, Munaf was the spearhead of the Mumbai’s bowling attack, but he failed to live up to it. He gave away 41 runs at an average of 10.25 and was also involved in an on field verbal duel with Punjab’s opener Saini, which later earned him a fine.

By Samikshan Dutta Choudhury

Indian Sports News