Kings XI Punjab halted Mumbai Indians’ winning streak with a thrilling one-run victory off the last ball in the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Wankhede Stadium here on Wednesday. In a thrill-one-minute frenzied final phase of the match, the home team — chasing the visitors’ 189 for four — were dismissed for 188 after losing their last six wickets in three overs and one ball in a dramatic change of fortunes. Seemingly cruising to a comfortable victory with captain Sachin Tendulkar (64) on song, Mumbai Indians suddenly lost the plot and a clutch of wickets — mostly to run-outs and the list included their skipper — to end up on the losing side. From 159 for three in 16.5 overs, the home team slumped to 188 all out when last man Vikrant Yeligati was run out at the non-striker’s end by a superb piece of fielding by Punjab XI skipper Yuvraj Singh when two runs were needed off the final ball. Five batsmen were run out in the innings and the most crucial was Mumbai captain Sachin’s who got mixed up with Robin Uthappa’s yes-no call and was stranded out of the crease at the non-striker’s end. Mumbai Indians lost Shaun Pollock and Uthappa quickly and the loss of three wickets in just seven balls unnerved the rest of the batsmen who took enormous risks and failed. Taking the centre stage after the fall of the swashbuckling opening partner Sanath Jayasuriya (20) in the third over, Sachin played the anchor role hitting 12 fours in 46 balls before being run out off the last ball of the 17th over. They lost their poise at his dismissal and that of Pollock’s, out first ball top-edging Yuvraj to third man, and a frenzied last two overs — when needing 27 runs — ended in a heart-stopping loss that put an end to their winning six-match streak. The victory, third in the row, put Punjab XI virtually in the semi-finals while leaving Mumbai Indians, on 12 points from 11 ties, with the difficult task of winning at least two out of their last three away ties to enter the last four. Sachin, playing in only his fourth IPL tie after missing the first seven matches, cleverly batted around power-hitters Dwayne Smith (20) and Abhishek Nayar (27) but the clutch of wickets in the end undid his good work. Earlier, in-form Australian Shaun Marsh made the most of an early escape to compile a superb 81 besides putting on a century stand with compatriot Luke Pomersbach to help Kings XI pile up a competitive score. |
