ABU DHABI: Kieron Pollard and Hardik Pandya blasted mediocre death bowling to put Mumbai Indians out of reach of Kings XI Punjab for a 48-run win in the Indian Premier League yesterday.
Pollard, 47 not out off 20 balls, and Pandya, 30 not out off 11, did most of the lashing off the last five overs as Mumbai plundered 89 runs.
Mumbai finished with 191-4, and Kings XI Punjab faded to 143-8.
Mumbai Indians topped the standings with two wins from four matches, while Kings XI Punjab was sixth of eight teams.
Opener Rohit Sharma kept Mumbai in the hunt for a good total with 70 off 45 balls.
Shane Cottrell bowled well to help limit Mumbai to 102-3 after 15 overs. But his exit allowed Sharma to break loose by hitting Jimmy Neesham for 4-4-6-6 as the 16th over went for 22 runs.
The 18th over went for 18 runs, the 19th for 19, which Pollard finished with three consecutive boundaries. Pollard capped the innings with three consecutive sixes, forcing Kings XI Punjab to reply at nearly 10 an over.
Jasprit Bumrah, Pandya and Rahul Chahar took the first three wickets with direct hits on the stumps.
At 60-3 in the ninth, Maxwell joined Nicholas Pooran in the middle. Pooran flourished with 44 from 27 balls to 101-4 but the asking rate was already high and Kings XI Punjab faded. Maxwell was out for an expensive 11.
BRIEF SCORES: Mumbai Indians 191 for 4 (Rohit 70, Pollard 47*, Hardik 30*, Cottrell 1-20) beat Kings XI Punjab 143 for 8 (Pooran 44, Bumrah 2-18, Chahar 2-26) by 48 runs