IPL 2020: Match 13 – KXIP vs MI – Who Said What

The Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) seem to be slipping away in the desert sand of the UAE. Despite some good performances thus far, they failed to get over the line on two occasions out of the first three. Their case only worsened as the Mumbai Indians (MI) decimated them in their fourth match. Batting first in the match, Mumbai put up a big total on the board. Then, they were brilliant with the ball as well and hence registered a massive 48-run victory.

Rohit Sharma led the charge once again for his side in this game with a brilliant 45-ball 70. Even though he wasn’t able to carry on through till the end of the innings, Kieron Pollard and Hardik Pandya took over later towards the end of the innings. They absolutely marauded the KXIP bowlers with the former scoring at a strike rate of 235 while the latter was going at 273. Their knocks of 20-ball 47 and 11-ball 30 respectively helped MI put up 191 runs in the first innings for the loss of four wickets.

In reply, the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) started off the chase on an extremely positive note with both KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal attacking. But they lost their way right in the powerplay losing a couple of quick wickets. Since then, MI kept chipping in with regular wickets throughout and never let KXIP gain the momentum back. Even though Nicholas Pooran kept his side in the game briefly with 44 off 27 balls, he couldn’t go on to play a game-changing knock. James Pattinson, Trent Boult, and Rahul Chahar picked up two wickets each.

Mayank Agarwal, the current Orange Cap holder, said

We are not competing for the cap, we are just looking to play some good cricket. It doesn’t matter who gets the runs, be it Rahul, Maxwell, Pooran or anyone else. Runs in the international circuit has given me a lot of confidence. In the lockdown, I sat down and looked (at) how things will work in the T20 template. The thought is just about getting into great positions.

KL Rahul, the KXIP skipper, said

Obviously disappointing. Looking back, we could’ve been three wins out of four. This game, we made some mistakes. Important we come back stronger. Wicket looked good with the new ball. Don’t know if it slowed up after that. Another bowling option would be nice – an all-rounder option who can bat and bowl well. Will be sitting with the coaches to decide if we want to play an extra bowler.

Until and unless that orange cap stays with Kings XI, I’m happy. He’s (Agarwal) worked very hard and deserves that cap. I’m sure I’ll take it off him soon.

Rohit Sharma, the MI skipper, said

Was a great win. We didn’t start really well, but we always knew with the kind of attack Punjab had we wanted to capitalize. Those two guys they back themselves to get the runs, it’s nice to have them in form as well. It wasn’t going to be easy with the ball against KXIP batting line-up. We knew we had to get early wickets and everything went to plan, credit to the bowlers.

The last game the execution wasn’t exactly right at the death with the ball. So we discussed and wanted to improve. I haven’t played enough with Boult and Pattinson, so it’s difficult to get them on the same page. They have now got an idea of what I need from them and I got to know them better too. Feels nice to get the runs, but the two points matter more.

Kieron Pollard, the Man of the Match, said

Feels good. We were on the losing side last game, so we want to come out on the right side today. It’s about what’s there in front of you. Look at the bowlers and see how many you want to get, 15 off the over and then you try to go hard. Today he had to come and swing and he showed his prowess. We know the sky is the limit in the last 4 overs. Yes, the Sharjah boundaries are small, but we got to hit them right and execute really well with the ball too. We can bask in the glory for now but we have an important game coming up in a couple of days time.