A blazing half-century by Sri Lankan Kumar Sangakkara helped Kings XI Punjab post a competitive total of 182 against Mumbai Indians in their Twenty20 Indian Premier League match here today.
Sangakkara (94) held one end almost throughout as wickets fell regularly from the other on the batting friendly strip of the PCA stadium.
The hosts were all out for 182 in their quota of 20 overs after being put in to bat by the rival skipper.
The Sri Lankan came to the crease after the departure of Irfan Pathan and went back in the penultimate over while attempting a big shot off Harbhajan Singh.
He tried to hoick Singh to get his century with a six but only managed to find Dhawal Kulkarni in the deep, missing out on a well deserved century.
His innings came off 56 balls and was adorned with 13 boundaries and one shot over the fence.
He also shared crucial 73-run partnership for the second wicket with opener Karan Goel.
The partnership ended with the run out of Goel as he was too late to respond to the call of his partner.
Goel, just before departing, got a lip cut after being smashed on the helmet grill by a quick bouncer from Dwayne Bravo.
Sangakkara raised 17 runs from Pollock's third over with a flurry of boundaries all over the park and then hit young pacer Dhawal Kulkarni for 16 runs in the next over to up the tempo.
Skipper Yuvraj Singh (18) came on the crease after the fall of Goel but could not last long.
Harbhajan Singh (3/32) was the most succesful bowler for the visitors.
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