IPL 2017: Kings XI Punjab vs Mumbai Indians, Player ratings
Mumbai Indians continued their love story with winning the toss and chasing down totals as they chased down an improbable 199 in a mere 16 overs against the Kings XI Punjab today. Sent to bat first, the Kings XI Punjab rode on a century from Hashim Amla and a quickfire 40 from skipper Glenn Maxwell to post 198 on the board.
However, their bowling frailties were exposed by an inform Mumbai Indians batting lineup that made very short of the big target. Jos Buttler returned to form and Nitish Rana continued his fantastic run this season to script another chasing victory for the Mumbai Indians.
Here’s a rating of the performances of these stars and the others in the match:
Kings XI Punjab
Hashim Amla – 10/10
Early in Amla’s innings, a live poll beamed to the viewers a question on whether his batting style hindered the batting of Kings XI Punjab. There was no looking back ever since. Amla earns a full 10 ratings today for his unbeaten innings of 104* (60). Sure, Amla was a bit slow to start with as he scored only 29 from his first 25 deliveries. But it wouldn’t have been wise to write off the abilities of a batsman who has a career strike rate close to 90 in ODIs and 130 in T20 internationals.
Probably because of his nonchalant way of going about scoring runs, there seems to be a common tendency to not identify him as a quick scorer despite staggering numbers in limited overs cricket. Nevertheless, Amla set the records straight with this innings.
The South African started accelerating once he was joined by Maxwell, scoring his next 75 runs off just 35 deliveries. He was particularly dismissive of Malinga, off whom he scored almost half of his runs - 51, including 4 fours and as many as 5 sixes.
Glenn Maxwell – 8/10
Kings XI Punjab had scored only 69 in their first 10 overs and were in a spot of bother when Saha departed after struggling once again. The fall of Saha brought skipper Maxwell to the crease. Maxwell started his onslaught with consecutive fours against Bumrah and it was only going to get bigger in the next over.
While Amla dominated Malinga from one end, Maxwell treated McClenaghan in the same fashion at the other end. SIX, SIX, FOUR, FOUR, SIX – read the 15th over bowled by McClenaghan after the first four legitimate deliveries. This included a no-ball that was put away for four by Maxwell. The over eventually went for 28 runs - the second-most expensive in the season.
Their partnership was broken when Maxwell departed for 40 (18), outfoxed by Bumrah with a cleverly disguised slower delivery.
Shaun Marsh – 6/10
When Amla took his time to settle in, early in Punjab’s innings, it was Marsh who kept the scoreboard running with a flurry of boundaries and dominated the opening partnership.
The Aussie left-hander struck five fours in his innings of 26(21) and looked set for a longer innings, before he threw his wicket away, flicking an innocuous delivery from McClenaghan straight into the hands of Pollard, who had to barely move an inch from his position at short mid-wicket.
Wriddhiman Saha 2/10
Saha continues to do a neat job behind the stumps but his indifferent form with the bat continued as well. He scored only 11 runs from 15 deliveries and his stay at the crease hampered Punjab’s scoring after the Powerplay.
Marcus Stoinis 2/10
Stoinis came in at the dismissal of Maxwell and in the quest for quick runs, tried to hit one out of the ground, only managing to hold out to Pollard at long on for 1 run. With the ball, he picked the key wicket of Parthiv Patel, although the damage had already been done, and ended up with expensive figures of 1/28 in his 2 overs.
Mohit Sharma – 2/10
Mohit snapped up the big wicket of Jos Buttler with his slower delivery, but it was too late in the day. He finished with figures of 1/29 in 2.3 overs.
Sandeep Sharma – 1/10
The medium pacer has been one of Punjab’s reliable performers with the new ball across several seasons but looks off-colour this year. Today, He conceded 39 runs in his 3 overs as Buttler took a liking to his bowling.
Ishant Sharma 0/10
The lanky fast bowler did no favours to his ill reputation in limited overs cricket by getting hammered with the new ball and at the end of the chase. Conceding 58 runs in his 4 overs, he was the joint most expensive bowler of the day alongside Malinga. The MI batsmen put together hit six fours and four sixes off his bowling.
Axar Patel – 2/10
Axar batted at No: 6 today behind Stoinis and remained unbeaten on 4*(5). With the ball, he conceded 20 runs in his 2 overs.
Swapnil Singh – 1/10
Left-arm spinner Swapnil Singh was picked in the XI in place of Cariappa. But he did not play any significant part of the game, conceding 22 runs in the 2 overs he bowled.
Gurkeerat Singh – N/A
Though Gurkeerat Singh got a game owing to an unfit Manan Vohra, he was neither required to bat nor turn his arm over.
Mumbai Indians
Jos Buttler – 10/10
Buttler, who had not been in the greatest of touch before today, started his innings, hitting Sandeep Sharma for two big sixes. Those strokes had an authority that gave away signs of something special. The Parthiv-Buttler duo matched each other stroke for stroke and the latter had raced away to 40 when Parthiv departed.
Buttler then carried on with Nitish Rana in another 80-odd run stand to clinch the victory for MI, although he couldn’t stay on until the finish. He was dismissed by Mohit Sharma for a 37-ball 77, that included seven fours and five massive sixes.
Nitish Rana – 10/10
Rana has been the man to watch out for in this season of the IPL. He continued his scintillating form, cracking his second consecutive match-winning half century and the third of this season, and remained unbeaten on 62. He struck 7 sixes in his innings, including the one that got him to the landmark
Parthiv Patel – 8/10
It would sound clichéd, but a “good start” is what Parthiv Patel has been giving the Mumbai Indians time and again. On this occasion, the diminutive wicketkeeper-batsman got them off to a flying start with a cameo innings at the top. Parthiv combined with Buttler in a rapid opening stand that brought about 80 runs for the Mumbai Indians in the Powerplay. He contributed 37 runs in 18 balls to this association that proved to be the winner for MI.
Jasprit Bumrah – 6/10
In a high scoring game that saw both teams pile up totals close to 200, Bumrah stood along with Krunal Pandya as one of the two bowlers who can hold their heads high. He was back to his best today during his spell of 1/30 off 4 overs. Besides bowling tidily, he outfoxed Maxwell with a slower delivery and ended his innings at a point when he threatened to run away with the game.
Krunal Pandya – 6/10
Krunal did not get his opportunity with the bat but bowled tidy spells with the ball and finished with figures of 1/29 in his four overs, picking the wicket of Saha.
Hardik Pandya – 4/10
Pandya shared the new ball with McClenaghan and bowled two overs, conceding 18 runs. He got his batting opportunity at the fag end of Mumbai Indians’ chase and remained unbeaten on 15*(4) and hit two fours and a six off consecutive deliveries from Ishant Sharma.
Mitchell McClenaghan – 4/10
The Kiwi bowler continued his knack of picking wickets amidst expensive spells of bowling. He bowled to Maxwell and conceded 28 runs for the second most expensive over of the season. He, however, also picked the wickets of Shaun Marsh and Stoinis at crucial junctures of the game.
Harbhajan Singh – N/A
Harbhajan bowled only 2 overs in the match, conceding 12 runs, and had no further role in the game.
Lasith Malinga – 0/10
It was not a familiar sight to see one of the greatest bowlers in T20 cricket getting hammered all around the ground. But Malinga had a miserable day with the ball, conceding 58 runs in his 4 overs. Amazingly, 51 of them were from the bat of Amla alone, who struck 5 sixes off the Sri Lankan slinger’s bowling.
Rohit Sharma – N/A
Rohit Sharma added another win under his belt as the MI captain but slotted himself down the order and did not appear to bat.
Kieron Pollard – 4/10
Pollard picked up 2 catches on the field, but neither batted nor bowled in the match.