Peterson, Rayudu steal win for Mumbai with incredible hitting

Ambati Rayudu (34) and Robin Peterson (16) creamed leg-spinner Piyush Chawla for 27 runs in the penultimate over to snatch a stunning four-wicket victory from the jaws of defeat against Kings XI Punjab in an Indian Premier League match, here today.

Mumbai were in a precarious position after 18 overs, as they needed 32 from the last 12 balls but some incredible hitting by Peterson and Rayudu helped the visitors chase the 169-run target with one ball to spare.

Riding on the heroics of David Hussey's 40-ball 68 and his undefeated 89-run partnership with David Miller (34 off just 17 balls) for the third wicket had helpd Punjab put up a competitve 168 for three after electing to bat.

Peterson smacked a hapless Chawla for two fours and a six in first three balls of the 19th over and then Rayudu hoicked the leg-spinner for two sixes off the last two balls to change the complexion of the game.

The platform for the victory, though was set by Rohit Sharma, who hit a blistering 50 off just 30 balls.

Rohit had provided the Mumbai-chase much needed impetus with his inspiring knock, containing three sixes and as many as fours but his dismissal off Parvinder Awana tilted the game in the favour of the hosts.

Mumbai needed 36 off 17 balls when Rohit was caught at backward point by Azhar Mahmood. Awana removed rival skippper Harbhajan Singh two balls later, loading the dice heavily in favour of his side.

However, Rayudu and Peterson took it on themselves and stole an unlikely victory with tremendous hitting.

Mumbai needed just five runs off the final over but Azhar Mahmood could not produce the miracle for Punjab with Rayudu hitting the winning boundary off the penultimate ball.

Now Mumbai (-0.073) have moved one place up in the points table to sixth, replacing Royal Challengers Bangalore (-0.192), on the basis of better Net Run Rate although the two teams have same eight points from seven matches each.

Mumbai began their chase on a cautious note, with James Franklin and Sachin Tendulkar giving them a sedate start with the first 50 runs coming in 44 balls. Franklin (22 of 22 balls) fell to former Pakistani pacer Azhar Mahmood, nudging an edge to wicketkeeper Nitin Saini.

Mumbai suffered a big jolt when Mahmood returned to bowl his next over. He had Tendulkar caught behind when the Indian edges one to keeper while trying to make room to hit a slightly widish ball in the 10th over.

Tendulkar made 34 in 29 balls with four boundaries.

Mahmood contributed in the third wicket also when Dinesh Karthik (3) handed a catch to him off Chawla.

All-rounder Kieron Pollard (3) also failed to contribute and was the fourth wicket to fall (4-90) in the 14th over off medium pacer Parvinder Awana.

Both Mumbai and Punjab had scored 100 runs in about 15 overs each, but the visitors lost wickets in the middle overs in quick succession.

Earlier, Punjab slumped to 46 for two in the eighth over before stand-in-skipper David Hussey steadied the ship. Hussey found an able ally in David Miller who played an unbeaten cameo of 17-ball 34 as Punjab compensated for a slow start with some big hitting towards the end.

Hussey hit four fours and an equal number of sixes in his knock while Miller smashed three sixes and a four. The duo, who came together in the 13th over, put on 89 runs for the unbroken fourth wicket stand from 7.1 overs. 

For Mumbai, James Franklin, R P Singh and Clint McKay grabbed a wicket each. McKay, Harbhajan Singh, Munaf Patel and Kieron Pollard came in for some stick from KXIP batsmen.

Munaf, who had bowled a disciplined line in his first two overs, found himself at the receiving end in the later part of Punjab innings as Hussey and Miller were in full flow.

Miller hit two sixes in the 18th over bowled by Munaf. He repeated it by hitting two sixes of the final two deliveries of the innings bowled by the same bowler.

At the start, Punjab openers Nitin Saini (17) and Mandeep Singh (22) gave their side to a good start. Mandeep, in particular was looking in good knick, scoring at a brisk pace.

R P Singh gave KXIP the first blow when he had Mandeep caught behind stumps when the batsman tried to give a charge to the bowler.

After Mandeep's exit in the sixth over at 35 for one, Saini (17) too, did not last long falling to Australian pacer McKay with Munaf in the deep barely holding on to the catch.

Australian Shaun Marsh and Hussey steadied KXIP innings after the two openers were back in the pavilion. Marsh, however, did not look in his prime touch with Mumbai bowlers bothering him on a few occasions.

In contrast to his batting in the previous match, Marsh consumed 26 balls for his 17 runs that included one four.

Trying to break the shackles, the left-hander handed out an easy catch to Harbhajan Singh giving Franklin his first scalp.