IPL 2018: Match 34, KXIP v MI – Krunal, Rohit and Suryakumar keep MI alive, KXIP lose by 6 wickets

KXIP stays at the fourth place in points table despite the loss.

Chris Gayle fifty took KXIP to 174 | IANS

The Indian Premier League 2018 saw Kings XI Punjab hosting the Mumbai Indians at their second home of Holkar Stadium in Indore for the 34th match of the tournament.

Rohit Sharma won the toss and chose to field first. Mumbai dropped Pollard for Evin Lewis, while KXIP made three changes, bringing in Akshar Patel, Yuvraj Singh, and Marcus Stoinis. The KXIP openers Chris Gayle (50 off 40 balls; 6x4s, 2x6s) and KL Rahul (24) added 49 runs in the power play overs.

Cutting removed Gayle and Markande removed Rahul to put brakes on KXIP scoring. Yuvraj Singh’s return didn’t prove fruitful, as he was run out for 14, while Karun Nair scored 23 and Akshar scored 13, as KXIP looked in trouble regarding final total.

Suryakumar Yadav's 57 set the platform for rest of MI batting to win the match | IANS

But Marcus Stoinis hit 29 in 15 balls with 2 fours and 2 sixes, as Hardik Pandya went for 22 runs in the last over of the KXIP innings. KXIP finally reached 174/6 in 20 overs. Bumrah (1/19), Markande (1/29) and Cutting (1/28) were the best bowlers from MI camp.

MI was looking at a decent total to chase down and Evin Lewis’ return wasn’t great as Mujeeb got him out for 10 runs. Suryakumar Yadav scored a decent 57 in 42 balls with 6 fours and 3 sixes, before Stoinis had him caught behind.

Ishan Kishan was dismissed by Mujeeb after scoring 25 runs and Hardik played a good cameo of 23 off 13 balls before Tye castled him. But Rohit Sharma (24*) and Krunal Pandya (31* in 12 balls; 4x4s, 2x6s) took KXIP bowlers to the task, as Rohit hit Mujeeb for two sixes in the 17th over and then, he with Krunal hit Stoinis for 20 runs in the 18th over.

MI kept themselves alive as they scored 51 runs in the last 3 overs to clinch the game away from KXIP's grasp by 6 wickets. Mujeeb was the bowler for KXIP, with 2/37.

MI needs to win continuously to qualify for the playoffs.

BRIEF SCORES:
KXIP 174/6 (C GAYLE 50; J BUMRAH 1/19) lost to MI 176/4 (S YADAV 57; MUJEEB 2/37) by 6 wkts

 
 

By Jatin Sharma - 04 May, 2018

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