All star of the match

Lasith Malinga does the job for Mumbai

30-Mar-2010
Lasith Malinga sizzled with three wickets from four balls, which included a perfect yorker to knock out Shaun Marsh, the only batsman who offered some resistance, as Mumbai Indians restricted Kings XI Punjab to 163. But you couldn't escape the feeling that had rest of his Malinga's team-mates produced their top game, Punjab would have struggled to get past 125. Such was his domination.
Whenever Mumbai needed a wicket, Malinga rose to the occasion. When Manvinder Bisla collected a couple of boundaries and threatened to stitch together a partnership with the attacking Marsh, Malinga removed him with a perfect slower one. He almost under-cut the ball and got it to dip on Bisla, who tried to adjust by checking his shot but the ball ballooned to mid-off.
His duel with his Sri Lankan team-mate Mahela Jayawardene also caught the eye. He hurled across a fierce bouncer which Jayawardene managed to edge over the keeper's head. Later, when Irfan Pathan was just about to start going for his big hits, Malinga induced him to miscue a drive towards mid-on and Harbhajan Singh took a very good catch, running from midwicket. Malinga wasn't done yet; just when you thought Marsh was going to explode, he produced a cracking yorker to terminate his innings.