Punjab Upsets Table-Toppers

Posted by Chinmay in IPL on 04 10th, 2010 | no responses

Sachin_bowled For the first time in IPL 2010 Punjab played to their potential and displayed their strength by defeating table-topper Mumbai Indians by 6 wickets. Kumar Sangakkara’s determined 56 and disciplined bowling performance by Piyush Chawla and others ensured a much needed victory for Punjab.

Piyush Chawla (3-24) and Irfan Pathan’s (3-29) three-wicket burst helped the home side restrict Mumbai to 154 for nine. Then With the help of substantial contribution from openers Mahela Jayawardene (31) and Adrin Barath (33) Kings overhauled the target with four balls to spare and taste their third win.

Early in the day, MI’s top order did not click against Punjab and Chawla’s accuracy helped them pin down the Mumbai batsmen. His straighter delivery reaped rich rewards. He foxed the aggressive Ambati Rayudu (33 of 18 balls) in his first over and claimed the crucial wicket of Master in his 3^rd over. Sachin played patiently for his 29 runs and became the second batsman to cross 400 runs in IPL-3.

But after Sachin’s fall it was left to Duminy, Sathish and Pollard to take Mumbai to respectable score. Duminy, playing in his first match, scored 35, but could not accelerate the scoring rate. Punjab bowlers successfully restricted Munmabi big hitters from posting a big total by picking regular wickets and eventually Mumbai was short of 20-25 runs which would have been a stiff target.

There were 5 changes in punjab’s side the most significant was inclusion of Barath, he can be destructive at top of the order. But this was his second game only. If Punjab had played him in more games; may be they would have been in better position. Now they should continue with this winning combination and finish the tournament respectfully and spoil party for some.

For MI this was a rude wake up call. With 2 losses in last 2 games, Mumbai Indians are faltering at wrong time. Which is good for competition and semi final picture is still not clear.

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