Chawla turns back the clock

Five years after he dismissed Tendulkar at the same ground,leggie repeats his trick to give Punjab third win....

While the other leading Indian spinners have been bunched at the top of the wicket-takers tally during IPL III,Piyush Chawla has been way down the ladder. Before the game against Mumbai Indians,the only recent high for the Kings XI Punjab bowler was his surprise inclusion in the squad for the T20 World Championship later this month. But as the day for Team Indias departure to the West Indies nears,the leg-spinner found his rhythm on Friday.

On Friday,Chawla stuck three vital blows as he dismissed Mumbais top three run-scorers Sachin Tendulkar,Ambati Rayudu and Sourav Tiwary to play a big role in Punjabs six-wicket win. With the visitors restricted to 154,courtesy Chawlas figures of 3/24,home skipper Kumar Sangakkaras inning of 54 turned to be a match-winning knock.

But the result of the game didnt have any bearing on the points table as Mumbai remained on top while Punjab stayed at the bottom.

Big wicket

Of his three wickets,Chawla enjoyed his last the most as he celebrated by raising his arm and sporting a big smile. With Tendulkar on 33 and seemingly getting settled for another of his big innings,the leg-spinner managed to sneak a ball past his bat and hit the stumps. Attempting to play a sweep,the Mumbai skipper was clean-bowled as the ball straightened. Interestingly,five years back as a budding spinner,Chawla had got Tendulkars wicket at the same ground during the Challenger Trophy. The prized scalp made headlines and the youngster was soon drafted into the Indian team. Just after making his comeback to Team India,Chawla has done it again. Earlier in the game,he had foxed Rayudu with a quicker top-spinner while Tiwary was stumped as he failed to read a googly.

The later-order Mumbai batsmen returned to the pavilion as they tried to force the pace. JP Duminys 35 from 28 balls that had two sixes wasnt enough as Punjab were set a target of 155.

Mahela Jayawardene stared the Punjab innings in blazing fashion as he scored 33 from 24 balls. After his departure,Sangakkara took charge. Against a high-profile Mumbai bowling attack that had Zaheer Khan,Lasith Malinga and Harbhajan Singh; the Sri Lankan old hand played a mature knock. When he departed,his team just needed 8 runs from 9 balls. Irfan Pathan and Reetinder Singh Sodhi completed the formality as Kings XI recorded their third win from 11 games.