Abu Dhabi played host to match number 13 between the Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab.
Winning the toss, Punjab skipper KL Rahul put Mumbai in to bat first.
Sheldon Cottrell gave Kings XI the perfect start – a wicket maiden first over that saw Quinton de Kock gone for a duck.
Not too long after, Suryakumar Yadav was run out by a direct hit from Mohammed Shami – Mumbai at 21/2 after 3.5 overs.
Ishan Kishan, who had smacked 99 in his previous outing, struggled on the night. His innings eventually came to an end when Krishnappa Gowtham dismissed him for 28 off 32 balls in the 14th over.
That’s when the Rohit-Pollard-Pandya show began.
The Mumbai skipper had been quietly keeping the scoreboard ticking over while wickets fell at the other end, in the process notching up his second half century in his last 3 IPL innings.
As the innings moved into its final stretch Rohit let loose and showed off some of that Hitman magic. Kiwi bowler Jimmy Neesham faced the brunt of his wrath – Sharma smashing 4, 4, 6, 6 off the hapless bowler.
It was a relay catch by Glenn Maxwell and Neesham at the boundary that eventually brought Rohit’s innings to an end – out for 70 off 45 balls in the 17th over.
There was no slowing Mumbai’s batting onslaught down though. Kieron Pollard had been smashing the ball over the boundary at regular intervals and was joined for some more big hitting by Hardik Pandya after Sharma’s dismissal.
Punjab made the baffling decision to get Gowtham to bowl the last over of the match and Pollard promptly hammered him for a hat-trick of sixes.
The big West Indian finished innings at 47* off 20 balls with 4 sixes and 3 fours while Pandya smashed 30 off 11 balls with 2 sixes and 3 fours.
Mumbai had scored 89 runs of the last 5 overs propelling them to a good total of 191/4 in 20 overs.
Kings XI began the chase well, especially Mayank Agarwal who soon raced to 25 off 15 balls.
However after two short balls to Agarwal, Jasprit Bumrah bowled full and rattled the batsman’s stumps to send him back to the pavilion. Punjab 38/1 after 4.5 overs.
The very next over saw Karun Nair drag Krunal Pandya back onto his stumps.
And when Rahul was dismissed for 17 off 19 balls by Rahul Chahar in the 9th over, the required run rate had shot past 11.
Nicholas Pooran made a fight for it, managing 44 off 27 balls before James Pattinson had him edging behind. Punjab now 101/4 after 13.2 overs.
Maxwell, Neesham and Sarfaraz Khan all fell without adding much to the score and at the end of the 18th over, Punjab had no hopes of winning, tottering at 123/7.
Ravi Bishnoi was the last Punjab wicket to fall, in the 19th over. Kings XI Punjab managed just 143/8 in their 20 overs, handing Mumbai a 48 run win.
Kieron Pollard was named Man of the Match. Mumbai Indians are now at the top of the points table.
