An unbeaten 93 from 55 deliveries from Wriddhiman Saha helped Kings XI Punjab keep their playoff hopes alive after a seven-run win over Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium.
After being put into bat, Punjab pulled off a surprise by sending Saha to open the innings with Martin Guptill [36 off 18 balls] and the duo started off well, adding 68 runs for the opening partnership.
Glenn Maxwell [47 off 21 balls] promoted himself to number three and continued from where Guptill had left off as he took the attack to the Mumbai bowlers from the word go. He would hit two fours and five sixes in his 21-ball 47.
Saha stayed on until the end to guide the Kings XI to a total of 230-3 which looked like a winning score despite the pitch favouring the batsmen in a big way.
A special mention should go to Jasprit Bumrah, who conceded just 24 runs and took one wicket in his four overs amongst all the chaos.
Chasing 231, the Mumbai opening pair of Lendl Simmons [59 off 32 balls] and Parthiv Patel [38 off 23 balls] got the hosts off to a promising start with the former notching up his second half-century in three innings this season.
Simmons was dismissed by a brilliant one-handed catch by Guptill as the Mumbai chase suffered a bit of a setback in the middle overs, losing four wickets for 22 runs from 25 deliveries.
Kieron Pollard [50* off 24 balls] and Hardik Pandya [30 off 13 balls], though, did not see it as a lost cause as they were in a destructive mood to get Mumbai right back into the game with a 55-run partnership that came from just 21 balls.
Pollard stayed on until the end, but two fine overs from Sandeep Sharma and Mohit Sharma saw Punjab win after a tense finish.
BRIEF SCORES
Kings XI Punjab 230-3, 20 overs [Saha 93*, Maxwell 47, Bumrah 1-24] beat Mumbai Indians 223-6, 20 overs [Simmons 59, Pollard 50*, Mohit 2-57] by seven runs.
Player of the Match – Wriddhiman Saha.
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