Adam Gilchrist failed to make an impression with the bat, but did manage to skipper his side to a win against the Mumbai Indians in his final IPL game on Saturday.
Azhar Mahmood (80 in 44 and two for 24) and Shaun Marsh (63 in 47) scored half-centuries to help Kings XI to a formidable total of 183 for eight, which Mumbai Indians were unable to chase down, eventually crashing to 133 all out to hand the home side a 50-run win in Dharamsala.
The game did not hold any significance with Kings XI already out of the running for the playoffs and the Mumbai Indians assured of a top-two finish. CSK can now finish on the top of the table with a win over RCB later on Saturday, a must-win game for the latter to have any chance of taking the fourth and final playoff spot.
The Mumbai Indians, chasing the big target, got off to the worst possible start, with Glenn Maxwell losing his wicket in the first over of Praveen Kumar. The Australian top-edged a delivery from the Kings XI bowler, with Manan Vohra completing the catch at third man.
Aditya Tare picked up from where he left off in the last game, scoring two fours and two sixes in little time, but could not carry on as Sandeep Sharma castled the batsman after a quickfire 12-ball 22 (2x4, 2x6).
Ambati Rayudu also got off to a decent start, scoring 26 runs (22b, 3x4), but again failed to capitalize, caught behind by Gilchrist off Parwinder Awana, as Kings XI tightened the noose.
Mumbai Indians backed themselves to a corner further with Dinesh Karthik, for a duck, and Rohit Sharma (25, 25b, 2x4, 1x6) also walking back to the pavilion. Piyush Chawla (two for 20) with both the wickets, as Mumbai Indians were left reeling on 78 for five needing another 106 runs from eight overs.
Kieron Pollard was the next batsman to get past 20 before being dismissed, holing out to David Miller off Sandeep Sharma, a ball after finding being caught at long-off off a free hit.
The game was over bar the shouting at that point as the Kings XI saw the rest of the overs through, with Gilchrist rather fittingly picking up the final wicket that of Harbhajan Singh, to end the tournament on a bright note.
Earlier, Kings XI got themselves out of early trouble to post a big total courtesy a huge partnership between Shaun Marsh and Azhar Mahmood.
Mandeep Singh was the first batsman to go for Kings XI with just two runs on the board for his side. Rishi Dhawan was the wicket-taker, with Mandeep spooning a catch straight to Kieron Pollard at mid-off while attempting a drive.
Adam Gilchrist, unfortunately, did not have a memorable farewell, with the left-hander castled by Nathan Coulter-Nile for just five in his last IPL match, and probably any big match of note.
Then came the innings-turning partnership of 148 from just 14.2 overs between Mahmood and Marsh.
The two complemented each other brilliantly with both players taking turns towards smashing the Mumbai Indians bowlers to smithereens.
First, Marsh got things going with a treble of boundaries in three balls off Dhawal Kulkarni, with the bowler then having to walk off the field with a side strain.
Mahmood continued the assault a couple of overs later, spanking Lasith Malinga for three fours and a six in the same over, which yielded 20 runs - Malinga would have the final say in the innings, though.
Kings XI raced to 80 for two at the halfway mark, before reaching 143 after 16 overs at a run rate of 8.93. Harbhajan Singh was the man to break the partnership, disturbing the leg stump of Marsh (63, 47b, 11x4), while the Australian attempted a slog across the line.
Mahmood then went next over - the 18th over of the innings - with Malinga trapping the Pakistani all-rounder in front of the wicket after a brilliantly played 44-ball 80 (8x4, 4x6).
Then there was just a procession of wickets really in the final couple of overs, with Kings XI losing four wickets, two of those to Malinga, who became the first bowler in the IPL to reach 100 wickets.
