MI win in a canter

The Mumbai Indians spin trio of Harbhajan Singh (1/9), J P Duminy (2/15) and Ajinkya Rahane (1/5) wreaked havoc with their splendid spells and set the stage for the revenge win as they restricted Punjab to a paltry 119 for nine.

Sunny Sohal with his fearless 43 was the top scorer for the Kings XI after Yuvraj Singh chose to bat at SuperSport park. Mumbai’s chase began on shaky note with the failure of Sanath Jayasuriya (4) but Bravo, cashing in on a dropped chance, steered them to a comfortable win with his 59-ball knock, bejewelled with seven fours and three sixes.

Bravo, who was dropped on nought by Irfan Pathan on his own bowling in the second over of the innings, hit S Sreesanth for two huge sixes and two fours to begin the firework and then lofted Yuvraj for a massive six over the sightscreen.

The West Indies shared an unbeaten 82-run stand for the third wicket skipper Sachin Tendulkar, who provided good support with his unconquered 29-ball 41.

Earlier, the Mumbai Indian spinners -- led by Harbhajan -- did not give much chance to the Kings XI batsmen to settle down on a turning track.

Harbhajan took just one wicket but his economical spell — he gave away just nine runs in his four overs -- set the stage for the rest of the bowlers to knock the stuffing out of Kings XI.

Sohal hit three sixes on the off-side and played some elegant drives on the leg. However, his entertaining 23-ball knock ended when he carelessly stood out of his crease on Tendulkar’s misfield and the subsequent direct hit triggered a collapse.

SCORE BOARD

KINGS XI PUNJAB:

Sunny Sohal (run out) 43,
Simon Katich c Harbhajan b Kulkarni 0,
Irfan Pathan (run out) 0,
Kumar Sangakkara b Harbhajan 8,
Yuvraj Singh c Bravo b Duminy 12,
Wilkin Mota c Harbhajan b Duminy 4,
Luke Pomersbach b Rahane 5,
Karan Goel (not out) 20,
Brett Lee c Raje b Malinga 8,
Piyush Chawla (run out) 0,
S Sreesanth (not out) 1.

Extras (B-3, LB-1, W-12, NB-2) 18. Total (for 9 wkts, 20 overs) 119.

Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-22, 3-50, 4-67, 5-79, 6-79, 7-89, 8-106, 9-112.

Bowling: L Malinga 4-0-32-1, D Kulkarni 3-0-24-1, D Bravo 2-0-17-0, R Raje 1-0-10-0, Harbhajan Singh 4-0-9-1, JP Duminy 4-0-15-2, A Rahane 1-0-5-1, Sanath Jayasuriya 1-0-3-0.

MUMBAI INDIANS:

Sanath Jayasuriya c Mota b Lee 4,
Dwayne Bravo (not out) 70,
Ajinkya Rahane lbw Chawla 1,
Sachin Tendulkar (not out) 41.

Extras (W-4, NB-2) 6. Total (for 2 wkts, 16.2 overs) 122.

Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-40.

Bowling: Brett Lee 4-0-25-1, Irfan Pathan 3.2-1-14-0, S Sreesanth 1-0-21-0, Piyush Chawla 4-0-32-1, Yuvraj Singh 2-0-14-0, Karan Goel 2-0-16-0.