KL Rahul played the role of a sheet anchor to perfection as Kings XI Punjab returned to winning ways with a comfortable eight-wicket victory over Mumbai Indians in the 12th edition of Indian Premier League in Mohali on Saturday.

Playing their first home game of the season, KXIP made it four wins a row in Mohali after winning the three matches they played there in 2018.

Rahul found form after a slow start and was unbeaten on 71 off 57 balls with KXIP reaching the 177-run target in only 18.4 overs. He hit six fours and a six but what stood out was the manner in which he paced his innings.

He played second fiddle to perfection till the dashing Chris Gayle and the flamboyant Mayank Agarwal were at the crease but upped the ante when it was required.

This was KXIP’s second win in three games while MI lost their second game.

Disciplined run-chase

The 15th over bowled by Hardik Pandya swung the match decisively in KXIP’s favour with 19 runs coming off it.

Once the pressure was off, Rahul hit the ever-dependable Jasprit Bumrah for successive fours to snuff any hopes of a Mumbai fightback.

Gayle (40 off 24 balls) batted in a manner only he can as he cleared his front leg and hit those towering sixes before Pandya brothers joined hands to send him back to the dug-out after an opening stand of 53. Gayle failed to get required elevation off a Krunal delivery and Hardik caught him in the deep. Rahul was barely into double figures when Gayle got out.

The next partnership was equally one-sided as Agarwal (43 off 21 balls) was in great nick during the 64 runs that he added with his close buddy Rahul in only 6.1 overs.

The Pandya brothers had a forgettable day overall with the ball as Krunal gave away 43 runs in his four overs and Hardik 39 runs in three overs.

While he was leaked runs, Hardik once again provided the final flourish after yet another middle-order collapse as Mumbai Indians managed 176 for 7 after being put into bat.

Quinton de Kock with a 39-ball-60 created a platform which the middle-order unfortunately didn’t make full use of before Hardik smashed 31 off 19 balls to enable MI get past 175-run mark.

While de Kock hit six boundaries and two sixes in his innings, Pandya hit three boundaries and a six off Mohammed Shami. Skipper Rohit Sharma also looked good during his brief stay at the crease, scoring 32 off 18 balls with five fours. He added 51 for the opening stand with de Kock. In a decision that MI would come to rue, Rohit did not review his LBW decision with ball-tracker showing the delivery was missing leg stumps.

M Ashwin impresses

For the home team, it was the lesser known Ashwin who emerged as the most successful bowler with figures of 2 for 25 from his four overs. M Ashwin got the wickets of Suryakumar Yadav and Yuvraj Singh.

Skipper R Ashwin didn’t get any wickets but gave away only 26 runs in his four overs.

The pace troika of Shami (2/40 in 4 overs), Andrew Tye (1/40 in 4 overs) and Hardus Viljoen (2/40 in 4 overs) were among wickets but bowled a lot of loose deliveries, giving away 13 fours and three sixes.

MI were off to a great start after Shami was hit for a couple of boundaries by Rohit and one from De Kock in the very second over. In the fifth over, Rohit hit Andrew Tye for three more fours but Viljoen dismissed him in the very next over when he tried to play across the line. Suryakumar (11) was caught plumb in-front by M Ashwin but de Kock found his ways to get boundaries off both the Ashwins.

Once Pollard was gone, MI slumped to 146 for five from 120 for two but Hardik ensured a safe total for the visitors.

But a collective batting effort ensured KXIP crossed the finish line without too much of a hiccup.