A scintillating 56 by skipper Kumara Sangakkara helped Kings XI Punjab beat table toppers Mumbai Indians by six wickets in the Indian Premier League (IPL) here Friday.
Opting to bat first, Mumbai Indians were restricted to 154 for nine in 20 overs after Irfan Pathan and Piyush Chawla picked up three wickets each at the floodlit Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) Stadium.
Riding on Sangakkara’s half-century, Kings XI Punjab made 158 in 19.2 overs with six wickets in hand.
Despite the win, Kings XI remained at the bottom of the table with six points from 11 matches while Mumbai Indian stayed on top of the league with 14 from 10 games.
Kings XI Punjab were off to a good chase, with the in-form Mahela Jayawardene (31) and Adrian Barath (33) adding 41 runs in just 27 balls for the first wicket.
Lasith Malinga struck with a slower delivery to dismiss Jayawardene, caught by Saurabh Tiwari at mid-on and Jean Paul Duminy trapped Barath leg-before the wicket as Kings XI were reduced to 87 for two in the 10th over.
Sangakkara then pulled back things under control with his 42-ball innings that was studded with six fours and one six. With Yuvraj Singh (15), Sangakkara added 38-runs for the third wicket. Yuvraj once again got a good start but failed to carry on after he mistimed a pull off Keiron Pollard and was caught by Duminy at deep mid-wicket.
Sangakkaara, however, kept the runs flowing at the other end and by the time he departed in the 19th over, Kings XI were on the threshold of a long awaited win as they were just eight runs short with nine balls in hand. Irfan Pathan (15 not out) and Reetinder Singh Sodhi then took Kings XI to home with four balls to spare.
Earlier in the day, Mumbai Indians batsmen got good starts but failed to build on it. Duminy was the top scorer with 35 while Ambati Rayudu (33) and Sachin Tendulkar (29) came up with crucial innings.
After the early dismissal of opener Shikhar Dhawan (2), whose stumps were uprooted by Pathan in the second over, Tendulkar and Rayudu consolidated the innings with their second wicket 44-run stand off 29 balls.
At a time when their partnership was growing strong, Sangakkara showed faith in leg-spinner Chawla, who went through the defence of Rayudu and rattled his stumps. In his next two overs, Chawla picked up Tiwari (4) and Tendulkar as Mumbai Indians slumped to 70 for four from 51 for one.
Duminy (35) and Pollard (18) then struck crucial partnership of 38 runs off 25 balls for the sixth wicket, helping Mumbai Indians to reach a respectable total.
Rajagopal Sathish made 20 while local boy Harbhajan Singh managed with only 9 runs.
Mumbai Indians lost its three wickets in the last over of Love Ablish.
