Gilchrist was trapped in front for a blob by Harbhajan Singh off the second ball of the KXIP innings and that was the beginning of the end for the visitors. One-down Shaun Marsh (61) played pure cricketing shots but the other Punjab batsmen looked ordinary. They were chasing 160 for victory.
Under the burden of expectations, Paul Valthaty (33) hit his first boundary only off the 25th ball he faced. A couple of sixes flowed from his willow before he perished trying to hit a third one. The home side stepped up the gas on the field as Rohit Sharma plucked the ball inches above the ground to send David Hussey (2) back.
Dinesh Karthik (1) and Abhishek Nayar (14) came and went back without making their presence felt before Bipul Sharma was yorked by a typical Lasith Malinga toe-crusher. As the batsmen fell like nine pins, Marsh waged a lone battle at the other end.
He was out in the penultimate over, holing out to Sachin Tendulkar on the edge of the circle. It was Malinga’s second wicket and that ended all hopes of KXIP.
Earlier, Mumbai Indians reached a commendable 159 for five, thanks to some sterling batting by Ambati Rayudu (51) and Tendulkar (51). The 25-year-old joined the Orange Cap holder after Davy Jacobs (10) was cleaned up all ends by Bipul Sharma.
MI were stifled by left-arm spinning duo of Bharghav Bhatt and Sharma. The duo combined well to give away only 48 runs in eight overs with Sharma taking a wicket. The two left-arm spinners repaid the faith their skipper had on them.
Tendulkar looked uncomfortable playing them. However, in the sixth over bowled by Bhatt, the Master went down on his knee to send one over deep backward square leg for maximum. A half-cracker from Sharma in the 10th over too was rightly sent to the fence by Tendulkar.
Rayudu, meanwhile, clobbered Praveen Kumar for a massive six off the fourth ball of the 12th over. He had a lucky escape in the 15th over when Harris ran in too much on the long-off boundary to let the ball go over his head as the pint-sized batsman got his half-century. But a ball later, Karthik took a stunning catch tumbling backwards at the deep-midwicket boundary to end Rayudu’s stay.
Tendulkar got to his fifty with a boundary off an agricultural slog wide off the long-on. Off the very next ball, he missed a full-toss from Harris to hit it straight to the sweeper cover. Pollard swatted one boundary and two mind-numbing sixes in his 11-ball stay before Chawla accounted for his second wicket. Rohit too hit three boundaries before getting out off the penultimate delivery.
Scorecard
Mumbai Indians: D Jacobs b B Sharma 10, S Tendulkar c Nayar b Harris 51, A Rayudu c Karthik b Chawla 51, K Pollard c Valthaty b Chawla 20, R Sharma c Hussey b Harris 18, A Symonds not out 4, T Suman not out 0
Extras: (B2, LB1, W2) 5
Total: (5 wickets; 20 overs) 159 (7.95 runs per over)
Fall of wickets: 1-14 (Jacobs, 2.3 ov), 2-109 (Rayudu, 14.3 ov), 3-129 (Tendulkar, 16.2 ov), 4-144 (Pollard, 17.6 ov), 5-158 (Sharma, 19.5 ov); Bowling: B Bhatt 4-0-26-0, P Kumar 3-0-28-0, B Sharma 4-0-22-1 (W1), R Harris 4-0-33-2, P Chawla 4-0-37-2, P Valthaty 1-0-10-0
Kings XI Punjab: P Valthaty c Pollard b Symonds 33, A Gilchrist lbw b H Singh 0, S Marsh c Tendulkar b Malinga 61, D Hussey c Sharma b Patel 2, D Karthik lbw b Pollard 1, A Nayar c Symonds b H Singh 14, B Sharma b Malinga 1, P Chawla not out 10, R Harris c Pollard b Patel 1, P Kumar not out 2
Extras: (B6, LB5, W1) 12
Total: (8 wickets; 20 overs) 136 (6.80 runs per over)
Fall of wickets: 1-1 (Gilchrist, 0.5 ov), 2-73 (Valthaty, 10.5 ov), 3-79 (Hussey, 12.2 ov), 4-83 (Karthik, 13.2 ov), 5-113 (Nayar, 15.6 ov), 6-116 (Bipul Sharma, 16.4 ov), 7-131 (Marsh, 18.5 ov), 8-132 (Harris, 19.1 ov); Bowling: H Singh 4-0-25-2, L Malinga 4-0-19-2, A Ahmed 3-0-22-0, M Patel 4-0-18-2, T Suman 1-0-12-0, K Pollard 3-0-18-1 (W1), A Symonds 1-0-11-1
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