Kolkata: Mumbai Indians produced one of their most dominant performances this season as they hammered the Kings XI Punjab by eight wickets at the Holkar Stadium in Indore on Thursday.
Hashim Amla (104*) and a solid contribution from skipper Glenn Maxwell (40) ended the Punjab innings at 198/4. But the Mumbai batsmen made a mockery of this huge total as Jos Buttler (77) and Nitish Rana (62) completed the run chase in just 15.3 overs, handing Mumbai their fifth consecutive win in the tournament.
Earlier, Mumbai skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bat. Regular opener Manan Vohra was ruled out with an illness and thus he made way for Shaun Marsh as he opened the innings along with Hashim Amla. And the Proteas batsman was in some mood as he blugdeoned his way to his first ton in the IPL. Maxwell also did justice to his reputation of being a power hitter as he scored a quickfire 40 of just 18 balls.
Mitchell McClenaghan was the best bowler for the 2013 and 2015 champions as he snared two wickets giving away 46 runs in his four overs.
But the Mumbai willow-wielders had other plans in mind as openers Parthiv Patel (37) and Buttler blasted their way to 81 runs in just 5.5 overs. And youngster Nitish Rana, who has been absolutely phenomenal with the bat in the season so far carried on with his good form as he scored a solid 62* from just 34 balls, which included seven sixes and surprisingly, no fours. He hit a six off the bowling of Mohit Sharma to finish off the match in style, adding to Punjab’s woes this season. Punjab bowler Ishant Sharma had a forgettable day as he leaked 58 runs of his four overs.
With this beautiful innings of his, the 23-year-old Rana becomes the Orange Cap holder, something which is a positive sign for the future of Indian cricket.
This emphatic win sees Mumbai Indians go on to the top of the table as Kings XI Punjab are at the fifth spot.
Brief scores:
Kings XI Punjab 198/4 (Hashim Amla 104*, Glenn Maxwell 40; Mitchell McClenaghan 2/46) lost to Mumbai Indians 199/2 in 15.3 overs (Jos Buttler 77, Nitish Rana 62*; Marcus Stoinis 1/28) by 8 wickets.