Mumbai Indians continued their winning form with a nerve-wracking four-run victory over Kings XI Punjab at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Rohit Sharma starred for MI with an undefeated 79 that saw David Miller's 56 go in vain. Chasing a stiff 175, KXIP were shook early as Lasith Malinga deceived Mandeep Singh (9) with a slower delivery and had his stumps in disarray. Manan Vohra (1) followed him caught by Kieron Pollard off Mitchell Johnson. KXIP got a move on with three boundaries off Malinga in the 5th over.
David Hussey went after Dhawal Kulkarni hitting him for consecutive boundaries, before launching him over the ropes. KXIP lost their third wicket as Pollard pulled off a spectacular catch to dismiss Shaun Marsh (10) off Pragyan Ojha. Miller put Ojha over the fence before the spinner had Hussey (34) caught by Johnson. Harbhajan Singh sent back Gurkeerat Singh (2) to leave KXIP five down. At the halfway stage, KXIP were 85 for 5, still needing 90 runs.
Miller kept KXIP in the game with two massive sixes off Pollard in the 13th over. Harbhajan then struck twice for MI; he first sent back Azhar Mahmood (9) and followed it up with the dismissal of Manpreet Gony (0). Needing 57 off 30 balls, Piyush Chawla (12) deposited Malinga for maximum before perishing to Kulkarni. Miller helped his team keep up with the required rate as he hit Kulkarni and Johnson for sixes. Johnson finally had Miller (56) caught by Sachin Tendulkar with KXIP 26 runs from the finish line. Praveen Kumar (24) slammed Malinga for a six in the penultimate over leaving 17 from the final over.
Praveen Kumar did his best, but KXIP fell four runs short. Earlier MI won the toss and chose to bat. Sachin Tendulkar got MI rolling with two gorgeous strokes off Mahmood before he dragged a Kumar delivery back onto his stumps. Dinesh Karthik smashed Kumar for a boundary before launching him for a six. Gony got Karthik (25) out as he chopped the ball onto his stump to give KXIP their second wicket. Dwayne Smith was given a lucky reprieve as Vohra dropped him on 13 off Chawla. Smith (33) launched Chawla deep into the crowd before perishing the next delivery caught by David Miller.
Pollard got off the mark with a monster six. Sharma hit Gony for a boundary before launching him for a colossal six in the 16th over. The Mumbai Indians skipper continued the assault with sixes off Mahmood and Gony to bring up his half-century. Sharma plundered 27 runs off the last over – bowled by David Hussey - to propel MI to 174 for 3. Man-of-the-Match: Rohit Sharma Brief Scores: Mumbai Indians 174 for 3 (Rohit Sharma 79*, Praveen Kumar 1-24) defeated Kings XI Punjab 170 all out (David Miller 56, Harbhajan Singh 3-14) by 4 runs.
