Dhawan and Malinga help Mumbai Indians to beat Kings XI by 4 wickets
Shikhawar Dhawan’s half-century and breezy 31 by Saurabh Tiwary clubbed with aggressive bowling performance by Lasith Malinga who took 4 wickets to fetch fourth straight 4 wicket victory against Kings XI Punjab who stays at the bottom of the table.
Sachin Tendulkar won the toss and put Kings XI in to bat first. Ravi Bopara first to go for crafty Zaheer Khan. Manvindar Bisla got out to Malinga and Kings XI was at 40/2 in 4.4 overs. Shaun Marsh played a vital innings in the top of the order when wickets tumbled in the other end. Stand-in skipper Mahela Jayawardene accompanies him for 49 runs partnership before he was run out by Rayudu.
Much expected from talented Yuvraj Singh and his poor form continued as he scored just 2 and fell for Dwayne Bravo. Irfan Pathan as he always does chipped in with some useful runs. It was leg spinner Piyush Chawla who made important runs towards the end of the innings to give competitive total for Kings XI to defend on. Kings XI Punjab set 164 runs to chase down.
As entire preposition of the batting of Mumbai Indians revolved around batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar, bowling hurried beautiful delivers to him and finally it paid off. Sachin Tendulkar lofted Chawla to Pathan when the score was 42. Shikhawar Dhawan kept playing his shots and seemed to be unstoppable. Keiron Pollard too batted well and forged good partnership with Dhawan. But it was Saurabh Tiwary who tilted the match in Mumbai Indians way when the match was evenly poised.
Tiwary ruthlessly hit two sixes when it was badly needed. He scored 31 and made things easy to Mumbai Indians. Sathish shown his patience and stayed till the end and ensure Mumbai Indians were home. Malinga for his four wickets adjudged man of the match.
