Ton-up Lendl lifts Mumbai Indians

Sudhir Gupta 08:45 22/05/2014
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  • Centurion: Simmons ccelebrates reaching his 100 against Punjab.

    Lendl Simmons kept the Mumbai Indians’ flame of hope burning with a brilliant 61-ball 100 that powered the defending champions to a morale-boosting seven-wicket victory against table toppers Kings XI Punjab.

    Simmons bludgeoned 14 fours and two sixes in his unbeaten knock, the first century in the seventh edition of the Indian Premier League, as the visitors chased down the target of 157 with an over to spare to move up to fifth. 

    Mumbai’s fifth win in 11 matches has given them an outside chance of qualifying for the playoffs as they have now collected 10 points. But their progress depends on how Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders fare as both have 14 points each from 12 matches.

    If both fail to win their remaining games then Mumbai have a chance but it would also open a window of opportunity for Royal Challengers Bangalore and Sunrisers Hyderabad, who too have 10 points from 12 matches.

    As of now, only Punjab and Chennai are assured of playoff spots while the rest of the six teams will be battling it out for the remaining two places in the next few days.

    Simmons' wonderful innings was full of slog-sweeps and straight drives down the ground as he helped Mumbai maintain a run-rate of nearly 10 an over to see them comfortably home. 

    Mumbai have now beaten the most dominant team twice and that confidence will be vital as they still need to win their two remaining games by a considerable margin to stay alive. 

    Earlier, Punjab recovered from a middle-order collapse to post a challenging 156 for eight.

    Skipper George Bailey topscored with 39 while Manan Vohra and Shaun Marsh contributed 36 and 30, respectively. 

    Sent into bat, Punjab were strongly placed at 90 for two after the first 10 overs, but lost their way after that before Bailey anchored the innings with some calculative batting.

    For Mumbai Indians, medium pacer Jasprit Bumrah (2-31) and leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal (2-32) were the most successful bowlers.

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