IPL 2020: Mumbai Indians beat Kings XI Punjab by 48 run

Rohit Sharma was a happy and satisfied captain after Mumbai Indians' crushing 48-run win over Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in Abu Dhabi's Sheikh Zayed Stadium on Thursday.

Mumbai Indians struggled at the start of their innings and lost Quinton de Kock and Suryakumar Yadav in quick succession. But Rohit Sharma played a captain's knock to first build a partnership with Ishan Kishan and then go berserk towards the end to play a handy 70-run knock. In the process Rohit Sharma also became the 3rd player to score 5,000 runs IPL run.

When asked about his achievement, Rahul played it down, saying 5,000 IPL runs were good to have but winning the game was important. Going into the match MI had lost 2 of their starting 3 matches.

"Feels good to get to 5000 runs. I didn't look much into it. Winning the game was more important," Rohit Sharma



said.

Mumbai posted a target of 192 runs for KXIP. Kieron Pollard and Hardik Pandya rattled KXIP bolwers towards the end as Krishnappa Gowtham went for 25 runs in the 20th over. Then a bowling unit led by Jasprit Bumrah made sure that Punjab are never in the hunt to chase down the target.

"Was a great win. We didn't start really well, but we knew, the kind of attack Punjab has, we wanted to capitalise on that towards the back end. Hardik and Pollard back themselves to get those runs in the end. They have done that on many occasions. It is nice to have them in form. Overall very happy with the batting performances. we knew it wasn't going to be easy with the ball. We knew taking early wickets was crucial. We did that," Rohit Sharma said in the post-match presentation ceremony.

Notably, KXIP had lost in-form Mayank Agarwal and Karun Nair before the end of 6th over.