Kings XI Punjab stun Mumbai Indians by 3 runs

BY: iplkarmayudh.com
Kings XI Punjab beat Mumbai Indians by 3 runs to win the 20th match of the second edition of the Indian Premier League at Kingsmead.

Barring Sangakkara, none of the Kings XI Punjab batsmen could make their presence felt. Sangakkara waged a grim battle with a 44-ball 45 on a day when only three of his teammates returned double digit scores.Yuvraj Singh’s decision to bat first backfired and by the first strategy break, the Punjab side crawled to 50 in 10 overs with three top order batsmen, including the skipper himself, cooling their heels in the hut.

Openers Karan Goel (12) and Ravi Bopara (6) just could not get going and the first three overs yielded only 10 runs.The subdued start would have pleased any rival captain but not Sachin Tendulkar who tossed the ball to Harbhajan Singh in the fourth over and the offie struck with his third delivery.Goel, having slog-swept the spinner for a six in the previous delivery, stepped out to court peril and return stumped after completely misreading the line.Dwayne Bravo followed in Harbhajan’s footsteps and struck in his first over, removing Bopara.

A lot was expected of Yuvraj (10) but the left-hander let down once again, leaving his team in dire straits.Tendulkar pressed Sanath Jayasuriya into service and the wily Sri Lankan responded by removing Mahela Jayawardene (7).To make it worse Irfan Pathan’s (7) was a brief stay, cut short by Zaheer Khan, and Lasith Malinga then castled Wilkin Mota and Piyush Chawla off successive balls to dash hopes of Punjab’s rearguard defiance.

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Match Preview : Kings XI Punjab vs Mumbai Indians

Ground Reality:
Having witnessed a a show of batsmanship in the last two matches played by the Deccans here, Kingsmead Durban is all set to play host to a double header for the 29th April. In a day-night affair, the Kings XI Punjab would take on the Mighty Mumbai Indians. The batsmen seem to have taken a liking for the Durban pitch. The previous two matches have seen the teams batting first, scoring in excess of 160. The pitch would have an ideal bounce assisting the bowlers and batsmen alike.
Temperatures: 74F to 80F Humidity:65% Chances of Rain: Low

Team Updates:
Kings XI Punjab: After losing two rain curtailed games, the team from Punjab have fought back and won two games in a row. While their English recruit Bopara and the Sri Lankan wicket keeper look to be in fine touch with the bat, The Punjab team's skipper, Yuvraj Singh is due for runs. The bowling has looked good for the team with Irfan Pathan and Yusuf Abdullah being amongst the wickets. The Kings XI team would for look an allround performance today in order to extend their winning streak.

Mumbai Indians: Having the best opening combination in the world is always a boon. And when both are firing all cylinders, the opposition bowlers can only pray. So was seen in the match against Kolkata when Jayasuriya and Tendulkar played the role of 'The Un-stoppables'. Mumbai would hope that the pair launches a similar performance in their match against Punjab. With Malinga and Bravo bowling well, the Mumbai team would have an upper hand going into the match.
Captains' Form Guide:

Yuvraj Singh: A poor 2009 has continued for the Punjab captain. The gifted left-hander has not been amongst the runs from a very long time. Hoping for a change of fortunes, Yuvraj Singh would look to find his feet quickly and play a captain's knock.

Sachin Tendulkar: The Mumbai team captain has looked his best coming into the IPL. With two fifties and two man-of-the-match awards in just three games, Sachin Tendulkar reminds everybody that T20 is not just a youngster's game.

Numbers Game:
38: Yuvraj Singh's highest score in the IPL 2009.
7: Yusuf Abdullah's strike rate so far in the second edition of the IPL.
6: The number of sixers by Sachin Tendulkar in the IPL 2009.
Sound Bytes:
I don't know who says that it's a young man's game. Clearly, he doesn't know much about cricket: Sachin Tendulkar on people commenting that T20 is a youngster's game.
We have got a great energy and great buzz going in the team: Kumar Sangakkara after winning the man-of-the-match award for his match winning batting display against Rajasthan.

Yusuf fireworks blow Delhi away

Delhi came back strongly with early wickets. Royals looked like they will slide to another defeat afer half the side were gone for 64. Shane Warne surprisingly kept his big hitters Yusuf and Dimitri for the later part off the innings. That strategy paid off as Yusuf the Bulldozer Pathan came in and simply bludgeoned the hapless Delhi bowlers to all parts of the ground. It was simply the Yusuf show as he blasted Vettori out of the attack. Greame Smith finally came good today as he played the sheet anchor role to perfection. It was a must win game for Royals and they came good on the day.

It was a splendid match right from the start. Delhi did not get off to a good start as they lost Gouti and Viru early. Then as usual ABD played well to help Delhi to 143. It was a par score on a wicket that was playing two paced.

Yusuf: Today was my day. I was hitting them quite well. I didn't target any bowler, I just back my strengths and that is exactly what Smith said to me all the time. Targetting the shorter boundaries was a conscious tactic. I appreciate Warne for planning things so well. A lot of credit goes to him and Smith.

Warne: We thought that Yusuf down the order would be of great help. We wanted someone at the top to stay till the end, Smith used all his experience and that helped us a lot. Yusuf strikes the ball well and he is in good touch too, I always felt that he could do it for us. The ploy worked.

Sehwag: I can't complain about that knock from Yusuf. We dropped a vital catch and when you drop catches, it hurts you a lot. Yusuf Pathan was in good form today and even one of our better bowlers Vettori was hit. We were in control but when Yusuf came in, he hit them very clean and hit them long too. On being commented by Ravi Shastri that even he hits them like this on his day, he said that "I know and that is why I am smiling."

Yusuf Pathan is the Man of the Match for his hurricane knock of 62 from 30 balls.