Rahul, Gayle guide Punjab to nine-wicket win over Mumbai Indians

Chennai (Tamil Nadu), April 23   KL Rahul and Chris Gayle guided Punjab Kings to a comfortable nine-wicket win over Mumbai Indians at the MA Chidambaram Stadium here on Friday.
A spirited bowling performance restricted Mumbai Indians to 131/6 in their allotted 20 overs despite skipper Rohit Sharma’s 63-run knock. In reply, a half-century from Rahul and Gayle’s 43-run knock helped Punjab Kings to win the game with 14 balls to spare.
Chasing 132, openers Rahul and Mayank Agarwal gave a flying start to the side as they amassed 45 runs in the first six overs.
Mumbai finally got the much-needed scalp in the eighth over as spinner Rahul Chahar ended Mayank’s (25) innings and broke the 53-run stand.
Chris Gayle joined Rahul in the middle after Mayank’s departure. Rahul and Gayle kept scoring runs at a decent pace on the slow Chepauk wicket. In the 17th over, Rahul completed his gritty fifty.
Rahul and Gayle were in no mood of taking the game to the last over and they charged Trent Boult’s 18th over and took the side over the line.
Rahul remained unbeaten on 60 off 52 while Gayle amassed 43 including two sixes and five fours.
Earlier, after being asked to bat, Mumbai lost opener Quinton de Kock (3) early as Deepak Hooda picked him in the second over. Ishan Kishan came in to join Rohit in the middle. The duo stitched a brief partnership of 19 runs for the second wicket. Leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi ended Kishan’s (6) stint at the crease.
Suryakumar Yadav came into bat at number four. He along with Rohit built the innings for Mumbai as they accumulated 79 runs for the third wicket. The duo added runs at a quick pace and Rohit smashed hit first fifty of the season.
Again it was Bishnoi who gave the breakthrough to the side as he removed Suryakumar (33) in the 17th over. After the fall of the third wicket, Kieron Pollard joined Rohit in the middle.
In the next over, pacer Mohammed Shami sent Rohit back to the pavilion after he had scored 63 runs. Hardik Pandya (1) failed to leave his mark on the scoreboard as he was dismissed by Arshdeep Singh in the penultimate over.
In the last five over, Punjab just gave 34 runs and picked four wickets to restrict Mumbai Indians to 131/6. Pollard remained unbeaten on 16 runs.
For Punjab, Bishnoi and Shami picked two scalps each.
Brief Scores: Mumbai Indians 131/6 in 20 overs (Rohit Sharma 63, Suryakumar Yadav 33; Ravi Bishnoi 2-21, Mohammed Shami 2-21); Punjab Kings 132/1 in 17.4 overs ( KL Rahul 60*, Chris Gayle 43*, Rahul Chahar 1-19).