Durban, April 30 (Inditop) Yusuf Abdulla held his nerve in the last over to bowl Kings XI Punjab to a heart-stopping three-run victory over Mumbai Indians in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match at Kingsmead here Wednesday.
J.P Duminy’s battling 59 went in vain as he fell in Abdulla’s last over, from which Mumbai Indians needed 12 runs to chase down Kings XI’s 119.
The low-scoring contest was alive till the last ball, from which Mumbai Indians needed five runs. Saurabh Tiwary could manage only one and Kings XI broke out in celebration.
Nobody would have put their money on Kings XI when Mumbai Indians set out to chase the lowly total which was built around the solid contribution of Kumar Sangakkara (45 off 44 balls).
But Mumbai started badly, losing its last game heroes Sachin Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya early.
Jayasuriya was out for a duck giving a thick outside edge to Yuvraj Singh off Irfan Pathan (2-20).
Tendulkar was caught at point by Mahela Jayawerdena off Vikramjeet Malik.
Abdulla struck with his very first ball to remove Shikhar Dhawan with a stinging yorker that hit him in line.
Mumbai were struggling at three for 12 before Duminy and Dwayne Bravo (15) looked to set the house in order.
Duminy broke the shackles with two successive fours off Malik in the last powerplay over. Kings XI bowlers hit the right length on the slow surface to concede only 23 runs in six overs.
Bravo smashed Piyush Chawla for a four and a six before holing out to Wilkin Mota at long-on off Romesh Powar.
Duminy scored in singles and twos with Abhishek Nayar (15) at the other end. The South African was lucky to survive a missed stumping and a run out chance.
Pathan rattled Nayar’s timber in the 18th over for the crucial breakthrough.
With 19 required from two overs, Harbhajan Singh went for a wild heave off Chawla, only to be caught at the boundary.
Abdulla, who continued to impress in the tournament, was handed the ball for the last over. Five came off the first three balls before Duminy was caught by Taruwar Kohli at deep midwicket.
Earlier, Sangakkara played a lone hand as Mumbai bowlers stifled out Kings XI Punjab.
Zaheer Khan (2-12) and Lasith Malinga (1-19) were economical with the new ball, but Harbhajan struck with Karan Goel’s wicket.
Yuvraj Singh was held on the boundary as Punjab were reeling at 41 for three and then 52 for four.
Sangakkara batted around the tail, even as wickets kept falling.
rounak