Simmons century upstages Kings XI Punjab
West Indian batsman Lendl Simmons struck the first century of the 2014 Indian Premier League, as the Mumbai Indians upstaged the Kings XI Punjab by seven wickets in Mohali, Chandigarh, on Wednesday.
West Indian batsman Lendl Simmons struck the first century of the 2014 Indian Premier League, as the Mumbai Indians upstaged the Kings XI Punjab by seven wickets in Mohali, Chandigarh, on Wednesday.
The result pushed the Mumbai franchise to fifth position in the eight-team standings, bolstering a difficult push for a berth in the play-offs stage of the lucrative Twenty20 competition, while the Punjab outfit remained two points clear of the Chennai Super Kings at the helm.
Simmons orchestrated 14 boundaries and twin sixes en route to exactly 100 not out from just 61 balls. His last 20 runs were admittedly slower than the opening 80 – but conditions and circumstances dictated a cool, calm and collected approach through the closing throes.
The impressive milestone by the Man of the Match ensured Mumbai achieved a testing 157-run target with a delivery to spare. The Kings XI Punjab had earlier struggled to reach 156 for eight, despite the hard-hitting Virender Sehwag and Manan Vohra's entertaining exploits at the top of the order.
South African fast bowler Dale Steyn, West Indian all-rounder Darren Sammy and Australian trio David Warner, Moises Henriques and Aaron Finch, meanwhile, experienced a minor earthquake in the Indian city of Ranchi on Wednesday. Steyn, Sammy, Warner, Finch and Henriques are representing the Sunrisers – and are in the region ahead of Thursday's key fixture against Chennai.
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