Kings XI Punjab mentor Virender Sehwag had the funniest day on the field during an Indian Premier League match number 51 between Kings XI Punjab and Mumbai Indians at the iconic Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai after he witnessed his team’s leading pace bowler Ishant Sharma fall four times in his follow through.
Though Kings XI Punjab won the match by 7 runs, Ishant Sharma proved to be a bit expensive for the team as he gave away 29 runs in his 3 overs. Earlier, when asked to bat first, Kings XI Punjab started their innings in a fiery fashion as the new opening duo of Martin Guptill (36 from 18 balls) and Wriddhiman Saha put on 68 runs partnership before being separated by Karn Sharma.
Saha’s excellent effort, laced with 11 boundaries and three sixes, helped the Kings reach to their third highest IPL total after being put in to bat first. In reply, while chasing a mammoth 231 runs total, Mumbai Indians, who have already qualified for the play-offs, could only manage to score 223/6 in their quota of 20 overs.
Mumbai got off to a flier with Simmons and Patel clobbering the bowlers all over the park to race to 52/0 in just five overs. But they lost quick wickets in middle overs. Requiring 16 off the final over, Kieron Pollard smashed Mohit Sharma for a six on his second ball. Only then did Haryana medium pacer pull things back to bowl three consecutive dots as Mumbai Indians lost the battle by 7 runs.
With this win, Kings XI retained their fifth spot in the IPL standings with seven wins from 13 games; and now, they need to win their final league clash against third-placed Rising Pune Supergiant on Sunday to make it to the top four.
