IPL 2019, KXIP vs MI: Led by KL Rahul, Punjab execute their plan to perfection in win over Mumbai

Kings XI Punjab will be pleased as punch that each of their decisions on Saturday worked in their favour and the team was able to beat Mumbai Indians by eight wickets in their first home game of the Indian Premier League 2019. That result looked hard to visualise when the visiting side were 62 for one in six overs after being asked to bat first at the PCA Stadium in Mohali. [caption id=“attachment_6359611” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  KL Rahul in action against Mumbai Indians. Sportzpics[/caption] In fact, it would have been tough even for the squad to envisage stopping the strong Mumbai Indians batting line-up from posting a score in excess of 200. Yet, six overs of spin in the next 14 overs proved a massive weapon. The two Ashwins, off-spinner R Ashwin and leg-spinner M Ashwin, tied the batsmen down and had figures of two for 36 between them. KL Rahul, who had endured two single-digit scores in Jaipur and Kolkata, held the chase of 177 together with a knock of 71 while Chris Gayle and Mayank Agarwal attacked from the other end to dominate successive half-century stands for the first two wickets. Rahul then took upon himself the task of hastening his team’s march to victory in David Miller’s company. Even though he played the upper-cut and the hook, a gentle dab to the third man boundary off Jasprit Bumrah was an advertisement of his growing confidence. In the team’s opening game this season in Jaipur, he had fallen to a catch by wicket-keeper Jos Buttler in the opening over. He sought and succeeded in scoring a boundary behind the stumps on Saturday with a delicate touch. The Kings XI Punjab fans would have delighted to see Rahul use a measured approach to pace his innings. It did not matter to him that he was not able to score even at run-a-ball pace for the first half of his innings. He was intent on not gifting his wicket away while letting Gayle first and then Mayank Agarwal launch a blistering attack on the Mumbai Indians bowling. Gayle played as is wont, clouting two sixes each off Mitchell McClenaghan and Hardik Pandya, before being done in by a wider delivery from Krunal Pandya that he hit to Hardik at long on. And Agarwal showed tactical nous by taking the pressure off Rahul’s shoulders and letting him find his timing and touch. To be sure, it was a victory that spelt team-work and will boost Kings XI Punjab’s confidence in their decision-making processes. Be it with the choice of the XI – M Ashwin coming in for injured Varun Chakravarthy – or the decision to bowl first on what rolled out as a true track, each of their decisions worked in the team’s favour. Of course, there were some murmurs about Kings XI Punjab choosing to leave out successful spinner, Mujeeb-ur-Rahman, and their continued backing of left-handed batsman David Miller as the fourth overseas player behind opening batsman Chris Gayle, and pacemen Andrew Tye and Hardus Viljoen. Skipper R Ashwin’s idea of bringing himself on with the new ball against Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock worked well. The Mumbai Indians batsmen used the pace of the faster bowlers to score at quick slip. Mohammed Shami conceded 13 runs in his first over and Andrew Tye 15 in his first over. R Ashwin and Hardus Viljoen were the more effective bowlers in Powerplay. Yet, it was the wrist-spinner M Ashwin, who ensured that Mumbai Indians would finish with a smaller total than seemed possible when the visiting side were off to a flying start and scoring at 10 runs an over in power play. As soon as he was brought on, M Ashwin trapped Suryakumar Yadav in front with a ball that held its line and kept low in the seventh over. Between that and his leg before wicket dismissal of Yuvraj Singh, M Ashwin did well to peg the batsmen back by keeping them guessing. He finished with figures of two for 25 in his four overs to justify the team management’s resolve to employ him for the first time this season. The subtle variations in pace that he introduced was enough to plant seeds of doubt in the batsmen’s minds. It could not have escaped the Kings XI Punjab’s combine of skipper R Ashwin and coach Mike Hesson’s notice that each of the three fast-medium bowlers conceded more than 10 runs an over. And that could make them think in terms of including an extra spin-bowling option in place of Hardus Viljoen. For all that, it is a good possibility that the home team, which will host Delhi Capitals in their next game on Monday, will now press on with the wrist spinner. Nor does it seem inclined to rope in an all-rounder for the sake of including one. As long as the six batsmen-five bowler theory is delivering results, Kings XI Punjab will be unlikely to tinker with the combination. For all the latest news, opinions and analysis from IPL 2019, click here For the full schedule, date, time and venue of all the matches of IPL 12, click here