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First win for Kings XI

Rakesh Rao

MOHALI: It was just the kind of performance the crowd expected to see from the home team.

Kings XI Punjab finally got its act together in front of a packed house at the PCA Stadium to inflict a crushing 66-run defeat on Mumbai Indians on Friday.

After Kumar Sangakkara’s disciplined 94 saw the host reach 182 in 20 overs, Mumbai Indians lost wickets at regular intervals and never really looked like pulling it off.

The result saw Mumbai Indians join Deccan Chargers in the cellar, both teams without a point after three outings.

Lee strikes

When Mumbai Indians began its chase, Brett Lee denied the visiting team a sound start. He sent back openers Sanath Jayasuriya and Luke Ronchi off successive deliveries in the third over. Lee, who gave a torrid time to the Lankan left-hander, came up with a stunning, low return catch to end Jayasuriya’s agony.

Off the very next ball, Lee dived forward and in one motion, broke the wickets at the striker’s end to account for Ronchi, who had responded to a call from Robin Uthappa.

Thereafter, Piyush Chawla and Irfan Pathan struck twice before a breathtaking left-handed catch from an air-borne Yuvraj Singh removed dangerman Shaun Pollock. That dismissal reduced Mumbai to 105 for eight in the 16th over and the result was never in doubt.

In fact, Lee, Chawla and Pathan ended with flattering analysis. V. R.V. Singh, who went for 22 runs in one over, proved the most expensive while a wayward Sreesanth should consider himself extremely fortunate to get two wickets.

The scores:

Kings XI Punjab: 182.

Mumbai Indians: L. Ronchi (run out) 11, S. Jayasuriya c & b Lee 1, R. Uthappa c Sarwan b V.R.V. Singh 21, D. Bravo b Chawla 23, S. Tiwary b Chawla 17, S. Pollock c Yuvraj b Sreesanth 22, A. Nayar c Chawla b Pathan 2, Harbhajan lbw b Pathan 0, M. Khote (hit wicket) b Sreesanth 8, D. Kulkarni (not out) 2, A. Nehra (not out) 2; Extras (lb-1, w-4, nb-2): 7; Total (for nine wkts. in 20 overs) 116.

Fall of wickets: 1-14, 2-14, 3-61, 4-65, 5-91, 6-94, 7-94, 8-105, 9-110.

Kings XI Punjab bowling: Lee 4-0-9-1, Pathan 4-1-19-2, V.R.V. Singh 4-0-40-1, Sreesanth 4-0-31-2, Chawla 4-0-16-2.

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