Malinga's pace too hot for Punjab

The Sri Lankan slinger restricts strugglers with his four-wicket haul and sets up victory by four wickets for table leaders Mumbai Indians.

Lasith Malinga, the Mumbai fast bowler, with his arm raised, took four wickets to restrict Punjab to 163 all out last night.

The Mumbai Indians turned in an all-round show to beat Kings XI Punjab by four wickets in Mumbai last night and strengthen their position at the top of the table. Shaun Marsh announced his return with a fluent 53 at the top of the visitors' order, the only bright spot in another dismal batting card as the Kings XI were bowled out for 163.

The fast bowlers, Lasith Malinga of Sri Lanka (four for 22) and Zaheer Khan of India (three for 34) shared seven wickets. Shikhar Dhawan, the Mumbai opener, made 50 and Saurabh Tiwary chipped in with a valuable 31 under pressure as the Indians secured victory in the final over, their sixth win in seven matches. The Kings XI, invited to bat first, lost their opener, Ravi Bopara, early but recovered well - through the efforts of Marsh and the stand-in captain, Mahela Jayawardene - only to lose steam at the finish.

But the Kings XI bowled themselves back into the game as Dhawan fell just after reaching his half-century. His dismissal was followed by those of Ambati Rayudu and Dwayne Bravo. But Punjab's efforts on the field proved in vain as the Indians needed just six from the last over, thanks to the composure shown by Tiwary and Rajagopal Sathish (17 not out).

Kings XI Punjab: Ravi Bopara lbw Khan 1 Shaun Marsh b Malinga 57 Manvinder Bisla c Khan b Malinga 11 Mahela Jayawardene run out (Malinga/Rayudu) 20 Yuvraj Singh c Harbhajan b Bravo 2 Irfan Pathan c Harbhajan b Malinga 18 Brett Lee c Pollard b Khan 3 Karan Goel b Malinga 1 Piyush Chawla run out (McLaren) 22 Vikramjit Singh Malik b Khan 6 Shalabh Srivastava not out 1 Extras (b 4, lb 6, w 10, nb 1) 21 Total (all out in 20 overs) 163 Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-40, 3-89, 4-92, 5-124, 6-124, 7-129, 8-133, 9-150 Bowling: Ryan McLaren 3-0-29-0 Zaheer Khan 4-0-34-3 Lasith Malinga 4-0-22-4 Harbhajan Singh 4-0-26-0 Keiron Pollard 2-0-20-0 Dwayne Bravo 3-0-22-1 Mumbai Indians: Shikhar Dhawan c Marsh b Bopara 50 Sachin Tendulkar c Pathan b Chawla 11 Keiron Pollard c Bopara b Pathan 20 Saurabh Tiwary c Goel b Bopara 31 Ambati Rayudu c Yuvraj b Srivastava 9 Dwayne Bravo c & b Bopara 8 Rajagopal Sathish not out 17 Harbhajan Singh not out 1 Extras (lb 2, w 15) 17 Total (for six wickets in 19.3 overs) 164 Fall of wickets: 1-42, 2-82, 3-91, 4-122, 5-133, 6-158 Bowling: Brett Lee 2.3-0-24-0 Shalabh Srivastava 4-0-27-1 Irfan Pathan 3-0-20-1 Vikramjit Singh Malik 2-0-21-0 Piyush Chawla 3-0-32-1 Karan Goel 1-0-7-0 Ravi Bopara 4-0-31-3

Paul Collingwood, the Delhi Daredevils player, goes into today's match with the Rajasthan Royals full of confidence after a fine debut on Monday. The England international hit 53 off 45 balls and his 128-run partnership with the centurion, David Warner, set the platform for Delhi's 40 run victory over Kolkata. "The way we batted on a slow and low wicket was exceptional," Collingwood said. "It took the game away from Kolkata. The boys bowled really well. There are certainly areas for improvement - probably fielding. But in the end it was a convincing win."

With the group stage half over, Delhi have a 4-3 record and Collingwood, who joined up with his teammates after helping England beat Bangladesh 2-0 in the two-match Test series, is keen to establish himself in the league as quickly as possible. He also pointed out the competition offers players a chance to hone their skills ahead of the World Twenty20 in the West Indies, which starts next month. "It will help the players fine-tune their game," he said. "It is a shame that not many English players are playing out here."

In today's early game, the Chennai Super Kings, who have lost five out of seven, host Royal Challengers Bangalore, who have won four of their six games so far. "I still believe we have a good chance to make the semi-finals but as you know we have to start winning and keep winning," said Matthew Hayden, Chennai's Australian batsman. * With agencies