Mumbai: Goods knocks from skipper Rohit Sharma and C Gautam followed by a quick-fire sixth wicket partnership of 44 runs off 15 balls by Kieron Pollard (28 off 12 balls) and Aditya Tare (16 off 6 balls) gave Mumbai Indians their first win in IPL 7 as they beat Kings XI Punjab by five wickets at Wankhede Stadium here on Saturday.
Pollard finished the match in style as he lofted Sandeep Sharma for a six over long-off as Mumbai went past past Kings XI score of 168 for 5 by scoring 170 for five.
Mumbai started their run chase on a bad note as they lost opener Ben Dunk on the fifth ball of the innings and later was reduced to 33 for 2 with the dismissal of Ambati Rayudu. Dunk was caught brilliantly by a diving Wriddhiman Saha behind the wicket off by Sandeep Sharma. Rayudu too was trapped by Sharma with a ball that moved in sharply and also kept low.
However, Gautam and Rohit Sharma repaired the innings with a stand of 47. After the power play, MI were 49 for two and then advanced to 70 for 3 following the exit of Gautam who was dismissed by Rishi Dhawan.
Anderson, who joined Sharma, smashed Dhawan for a six off over long on to make a good start. The Kiwi then hit left-arm spinner Akshar Patel for three fours and a six in the next to swing the game in MI’s favour. Patel conceded 20 runs in that his last over for expensive figures of 0 for 40.
