IPL 9, Match 43: MI v KXIP - 5 Talking Points

Murali Vijay led from the front as the Kings XI Punjab scripted their 4th win in IPL 9 beating the Mumbai Indians at Vizag. Rohit Sharma and his men failed to carry the momentum they had built against the Royal Challengers Bangalore. While the entire season had been a rather forgettable one for the Kings, on the night against the Mumbai, it all seemingly came right. Marcus Stoinis was the pick of the bowlers while Murali Vijay led the way with the bat of course as the Kings helped themselves to a 7-wicket win.

1. The Sharma’s draw first blood:

Rohit Sharma, Mohit Sharma and Sandeep Sharma were the Sharma’s on the night as far as both teams were concerned. However, the Sharma’s from the red and gray of the Kings XI were the ones who successfully drew first blood. The track in Vizag clearly supported pace bowlers as it had some grass, thus assisting pacers with swing and bounce. Mohit and Sandeep did exactly the same as they wrecked the Mumbai top order. Unmukt Chand failed to capitalize on his chance as Ambati Rayudu, Tim Southee and Mitchell McClenaghan were the others to fall to the wily pace and swing of the duo.

2. Marcus Stoinis reduces Mumbai Indians:

Marcus Stoinis has been a breath of fresh air as far as the Kings are concerned. The Australian all-rounder displayed a fine bowling effort as he snapped up 4 wickets in his four overs. Moreover, he conceded just the 15 runs. He got the important wicket of Nitish Rana, who was looking good apart from dismissing Jos Buttler, Krunal Pandya and Kieron Pollard. His bowling efforts were instrumental in helping the KXIP reduce the Mumbai Indians to a relatively low score.

3. Murali Vijay displays class and patience:

Murali Vijay’s tenure as skipper of the Kings XI Punjab side has been anything but a smooth ride. Having had to deal with controversies and outbreaks within the team of the field, Vijay’s innings couldn’t have come at a better time. An elegant player in his own right, Vijay’s innings was constructed in perhaps the most sublime manner. He didn’t look to smash each and every ball and also seemed to be untroubled by the dismissal of Hashim Amla. Needless to say, the half-century he scored was a patient one, one of the very few and rare ones you would ever see in T20 cricket.

4. Hashim Amla’s torrid form continues:

Hashim Amla was drafted in for the injured Shaun Marsh. While Marsh was an integral member of the side, smashing 159 runs in the 6 innings he batted in, Amla is yet to make his mark on the IPL thus far. He was once again dismissed rather cheaply after having been trapped leg before by Tim Southee. While he remains to be one of the best batsmen in the world at the moment, it would certainly be advisable for the Kings XI to rethink their strategy of using Amla as an opening batsman or using Amla at all.

5. Vijay and Saha script important KXIP win:

Murali Vijay was joined by Wriddhiman Saha shortly after the fall of Hashim Amla. The wicketkeeper-batsman has had an unprecedented surge in his batting form of late, something he has attributed to former Indian batsman Virender Sehwag. While Murali Vijay was playing the long game, Saha was smashing the ball around the park as he stroked a quickfire 56 including a plethora of boundaries and a six. Despite stuttering towards the end with Glenn Maxwell, the Kings cruised to a 7-wicket win.

How did the match pan out? – IPL 9 Match 43 Review: Bowlers topple MI to help KXIP register an easy win