Michael Hussey and the Mumbai Indians have kept their 2014 IPL season alive with a seven-wicket victory over the league leading Kings XI.
In what was an Aussie-heavy evening featuring a ton of Test talent from Down Under, Hussey wasn’t able to deliver the goods for the Indians however a century from Lendl Simmons was enough to keep the team in the hunt for a playoff spot.
Hussey managed just six runs after a Man of the Match effort earlier in the week, but Lendl struck an unbeaten 100 from 61 deliveries- including 16 fours and a couple of sixes- to surpass the Kings XI total with an over to spare.
Captain George Bailey led Punjab’s Australian trio with 39 runs from 30 deliveries until a change of pace saw the Aussie slog a slower delivery from Jasprit Bumrah was caught at deep mid-wicket by Ambati Rayudu. Glenn Maxwell managed just two and Shaun Marsh collected 30 (17) after surviving a third umpire decision for a questionable run out, his aggressive innings ending when he dragged a lofted drive directly to Kieron Pollard at long on.
Bailey wasn’t too distressed about the result for his already playoff qualified Kings XI.
“We lost wickets in the middle,” he said. “Phenomenal innings from Lendl. We were 10 or 15 runs short. We were completely outplayed.”
“We would have liked to chase. It is important to keep doing the right things. It was good to see Shaun Marsh played well. Mitch (Johnson) is recovering from a niggle, Beuran (Hendricks) got a chance as well. Momentum is very important. We still took it to the last over. It was okay.”
Mumbai move to fifth on the IPL ladder with 10 points from 12 matches and have two more must-win contests remaining- they face the Daredevils on the 23rd before a final rematch against Kings XI on the 25th.
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Photo: Mumbai Indians
