The Mumbai Indians bowled and fielded well, and made good use of conditions which were slightly tilted towards the bowlers to hand Kings XI Punjab a 23-run defeat the PCA Stadium in Mohali. Despite posting 172 runs on the board – which looked about 20-30 runs short at the interval, MI exerted pressure all round to restrict the hosts to 149 for 7. Earlier in the evening, Mumbai Indians, who opted to bat first, couldn’t capitalise on the century opening stand and only posted 172 runs on the board. Lendl Simmons and Parthiv Patel added 111 runs on the board with both batsmen contributing almost evenly. Simmons was quick off the blocks, picking up three boundaries in the first three overs. Parthiv took his time to get going, scoring five runs off the first eight balls he faced. However, enter Mitchell Johnson into the attack, and Parthiv launched into the Australia pacer. The first ball he faced from the Australian, he opened the face of the bat and helped it on its way over the thirdman boundary. The second ball was put away to the midwicket boundary. Two balls later, he unleashed a meaty cover drive that too raced away to the fence. Parthiv won the battle against Johnson hands down when the pacer returned to bowl a second over; he pulled a short delivery first up and deposited it into the stands at midwicket, and then dispatched the final ball of the over - a low full toss - to the square-leg boundary. Parthiv had scored 28 runs off nine balls from the KXIP pacer. Parthiv brought up his half-century in the eleventh over at the same time as 100 runs were posted on the board. The left-hander was dismissed in the thirteenth over when he attempted to muscle a Karaveer Singh delivery, but picked out the man at midwicket; he made 59 from 36 balls, aided with five fours and three sixes. Simmons brought up his half-century off 38 balls and carried on to 71 before he found the man patrolling the midwicket boundary in the final over. Rohit Sharma’s 20-ball 26 was the only other notable contribution in the innings. Despite having plenty of wickets in hand, MI couldn’t force the pace in the back end of the innings. MI, who were 96 for no loss at the half-way stage, could only add a further 76 runs in the back half of the innings. Simmons scored 45 off the first 29 balls he faced, but could only thereafter add 26 runs from 27 balls. MI finished their twenty overs at 172 for three. For Kings XI Punjab, Anureet Singh and Karanveer Singh were the best of the bowlers, returning with figures of one for 30 from their respective four overs. Mitchell Johnson, who returned to the KXIP XI, had yet another poor day in the office, conceding 41 runs in his four overs. KXIP lost Virender Sehwag at the start of the second over, a leading edge lobbing to the fielder at point. Glenn Maxwell, who returned to the KXIP XI, attempted a few shots – connecting on two occasions, but perished when his attempted reverse sweep was caught by an athletic Vinay Kumar. That KXIP never had any momentum in their innings is illustrated by the knocks of Murali Vijay and David Miller; the opener Murali Vijay battled at one end but hit only three boundaries and a six in his 34-ball 39. Miller too struggled to force the pace; the left-hander scored 43 but consumed 37 balls, and hit three boundaries and a six. The pair batted for 7.2 overs but could only add 48 runs. When Miller was dismissed in the seventeenth over, the hosts needed 54 runs from 22 balls. KXIP finished their allotted twenty overs at 149 for 7. For MI, Mitchell McClenaghan, J Suchith and Harbhajan Singh were impressive with the ball. Lasith Malinga was the most successful bowler, returning figures of two for 31 from his four overs. Brief Scores Mumbai Indians 172-3 in 20.0 Overs (Lendl Simmons 71, Parthiv Patel 59, Anureet Singh 1-30) beat Kings XI Punjab 149-7 in 20.0 Overs (David Miller 43, Lasith Malinga 2-31) Man of the Match: Lendl Simmons, for his 56-ball 71.