Kings have forgotten how to win

Gaurav Kanthwal

Tribune News Service

Mohali, May 3

Kings XI Punjab continue to dish out boring cricket and seems to guarding their losing streak. On Sunday, it was Mumbai Indians who put a foot on Kings’ neck and moved one step ahead on their way to the playoffs. Yet another loss, this time by 23 runs, has virtually ruled Kings XI out of the race now. There are still five games left for the play-offs but Punjab are already going through the motions.

Kings’s bowling, the only silver lining this season, too came under the cloud here. The home team’s fielding — two missed run-out chances and a dropped catch — pointed out that the losses are weighing heavy on their minds. The batting looked as disinterested as ever. Three of the seven batsmen were dismissed through run outs even though the target was not as big as it was made out to be.

And, when a man as genial as George Bailey flings his bat down at the ground in anger you know the team’s frustration has crept up to unbearable levels. Towards the end, his mate Mitchell Johnson too vented the pent-up emotions on wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel.

It may suggest that the match was high on thrill quotient, but with both teams playing average cricket, it was only a matter of time till one team decided to give up. Once MI put up a total of 173 and took early wickets, Kings XI always looked like they were crawling towards a sad ending.

For a moment, Mumbai would have considered themselves unlucky when they had to settle for 173, especially after getting a solid start from Lendl Simmons (71) and Parthiv Patel (59) but Kings’ batting soon made them feel at home. On top of it, Lasith Malinga of old decided to show up. Malinga was in his elements, not as quick as he used to be, but the guile was there to see. Malinga and McClenaghan’s death overs made sure Kings ended at 149/7 in 20 overs.

But more than Malinga, it was Simmons on whose shoulders Mumbai rode to the win. The opener hung around till the 19th over and kept scoring a boundary or two to keep the things going. Much to the chagrin of pacer Sandeep Sharma and Akshar Patel, Simmons later disclosed during the onfield interview: “I like the pace at which the ball comes on to the bat here in Mohali.”

Kings XI Punjab made four changes in this match yet none of them could alter the fate of their team.