IPL 2019: KXIP thumps MI, but India gains as KL Rahul strikes form

Mumbai Indians had a crisp start. Rohit Sharma hit a couple of fours in Mohammed Shami’s first over. The second one, a drive through off, was high on aesthetic quotient. Rohit looked to be in very good touch. Three fours in an Andrew Tye over took Mumbai to 50 after five overs. Hardus Viljoen, then, trapped him leg-before. Later, ball tracking showed that it was going down the leg side.

Rohit had looked at Quinton de Kock at the non-striker’s end, but the latter was standing wide, which didn’t help his skipper. Rohit decided not to review the decision.

M Ashwin came into the attack on the heels of Rohit’s departure and removed Suryakumar Yadav in his second ball, a top-spinner that skidded through and caught the batsman plumb in front.

Spectators celebrate after one of Gayle’s sixes lands in their midst. During the course of his 40-run knock, Gayle went past 300-sixes mark in the IPL. (Express photo: Kamleshwar Singh)

Yadav intended to pull the shortish delivery, but he was done in by the zip. M Ashwin had a wicket in his first over, with only two runs conceded.

For any leg-spinner, bowling against the left-handers on a featherbed is a test of courage. The pitch hardly offered any turn. M Ashwin had to vary his pace, which he did beautifully. Yuvraj Singh was slowly getting into the groove, when the leggie deceived the veteran by holding one back a little. It was a googly outside leg and Yuvraj went for a slog-sweep. Shami took the top-edge at deep backward square and it was excellent captaincy from R Ashwin, who pre-empted the dismissal and placed the fielder at the right position. In fact, the whole dismissal was a well-thought-out plan. Also, the ‘other’ Ashwin showed resolve the way he came back after being hit for a few fours by de Kock. Once again, his captain was absolutely spot-on in giving the leggie a mini break before bringing him back for his final over.

The Kings XI skipper led from the front. He decided to send the opposition in after winning the toss and took the new ball.

“It was a good toss to lose,” Rohit had said after losing the toss. In the end though, Ashwin’s decision was vindicated. As predicted by the Kings XI captain, the pitch indeed became a little “greasy” under lights, making things even easier for the batters.

Ashwin himself played a big part in restricting to an ‘under par’ score. The two Ashwins gave away just 51 runs in their eight overs — 0/26 for Ravi and 2/25 for Murugan.

At 120/3 after 13 overs, the visitors were eyeing 200. Shami had removed de Kock, who was threatening to take the game away from the hosts. But despite the opener’s dismissal after a 39-ball 60, Mumbai had enough batting firepower to up the ante further at the back end of the innings.

But a fantastic over from Ashwin – just three runs conceded – started the choke and then, Tye removed Kieron Pollard with a knuckle ball. Hardik Pandya played a cameo but Mumbai still finished about 20 runs short.

Rahul’s finishing touches

KL Rahul had failed to reach double-digits in the first two matches. At Kings XI’s backyard on Saturday he found form and scored 71 not out off 57 balls. It was an innings of two halves. At the start, when Chris Gayle was in charge, Rahul played second fiddle. Gayle took back-to-back sixes off Mitchell McClenaghan before turning his attention towards Hardik. Rahul didn’t mind going at a 70-odd strike-rate then. Actually, it was excellent partnership batting from the Kings XI openers.

After Gayle got out to Krunal Pandya, Mayank Agarwal came and started to play the lead. Rahul was steady at the other end. He opened his shoulders only after Agarwal’s departure. A six off Hardik brought down the asking rate below eight runs per over. A boundary followed and the hosts were cruising.

Jasprit Bumrah was Mumbai’s last throw of the dice. He came back for his final spell in the 17th over. By then though, the equation had come down to 25 runs off 24 deliveries. Bumrah attempted a yorker but missed his length. Rahul exquisitely pierced the gap between extra cover and mid-off. A gorgeous flick to the backward square leg fence followed. The game was done and dusted. Kings XI went on to win by eight wickets with eight balls to spare.

Brief Scores: Mumbai Indians 176 for 7 in 20 ovs (Q de Kock 60 (39b, 6×4,2×6), R Sharma 32 (18b, 5×4); M Ashwin 2/25 (11 dots) lost to KXIP 177/2 in 18.4 ovs (KL Rahul 71 (57b, 6×4, 1×6), M Agarwal 43 (21b, 4×4, 2×6); K Pandya 2/43) by 8 wickets.