Finally, a win for Mumbai Indians!

Mumbai Indians and Mumbaikars finally had something to cheer about as the defending champions opened their win account on Saturday by beating Kings XI Punjab by five wickets in the seventh edition of the Indian Premier LeagueMumbai Indians blaster Kieron Pollard in full flight against Kings XI Punjab in an Indian Premier League game at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday PicPTIAfter making the Wankhede Stadium their fortress in the last IPL Mumbai Indians maintained their supremacy on home ground and also ended their fivematch losing streakChasing Kings XI Punjabs 1685 in 20 overs the heroics of Kieron Pollard 28 not out off 12 balls and local lad Aditya Tare 16 not out off six balls played a crucial role in tabletoppers Punjab tasting their first defeat of the IPL7Yeah it was nice to get off finally Corey Anderson who was adjudged man of the match for his 25ball 35 told reporters It Wankhede is our fortress and we looked to maintain that unbeaten streak of eight games last yearCorey Anderson en route his 25ball 35 on Saturday PicsAtul KambleHopefully we will be able to turn it around from here We tried keeping it simple as we had experimented with a lot of combinations in the UAE added the Kiwi bighitterA new opening combination of batters Ben Dunk and CM Gautam produced only six runs for Mumbai Indians as Dunk was caught behind by Wriddhiman Saha off medium pacer Sandeep Sharma for fiveA satisfying knockAmbati Rayudu slammed two fours but could not live up to his early promise as he was done in by a sharp inswinger that struck him low but in line off the same bowler Gautam was leg before for 33 trying to reverse sweep Rishi DhawanThe hosts were lagging behind at this stage but 20 runs from spinner Aksar Patels last over raised some hopes for MI Anderson lived up to his top billing slamming three fours and a six off Patel to bring the equation to 60 off 42 balls It was a satisfying knock I have got some confidence back now I want to keep contributing in the tournament said AndersonPunjab skipper George Bailey admitted Patels over tilted the momentum in MIs favour a bit They were on top but then we had some good overs from Rishi Dhawan and L Balaji Pollard played some brilliant shots in the end said BaileyBy now skipper Rohit Sharma had also got into the act But the duos dismissals in backtoback overs once again put brakes to MIs momentum MIs last hope was the combo of Pollard and TareThe West Indian displayed some exemplary powerhitting to clobber 20 runs off the penultimate over by former Mumbai Indians teammate Mitchell Johnson which included two fours and a six Needing five off the final over Pollard slammed a six to long off and Wankhede erupted in a deafening roarMaxwell at it againEarlier Saha cracked an unbeaten 59 while former MI player Glenn Maxwell slammed a 27ball 45 as Kings XI Punjab posted a challenging totalWriddhiman Saha in full flow against MI on Saturday He scored 59 off 47 ballsThe Wankhede crowd was at its vociferous best when Kings XI Punjab openers Virender Sehwag 1 and Cheteshwar Pujara 19 were back in the dugout earlyBut Maxwell who tops the batting charts in IPL7 flourished again He and Saha quickly added 69 for the third wicket to build a foundation for Punjab to explode in the endFigure trigger604Mumbai Indians spinner Harbhajan Singhs economy rate in IPL7 He has conceded 139 runs in 23 overs9The number of wickets claimed by pacer Lasith Malinga He is also the highest wickettaker for MI this season19602Kings XI Punjab hardhitter Glenn Maxwells strikerate this season The Aussie righthander has scored 345 off 176 balls