The West Indies opener hit an outstanding 100 not out on Wednesday as defending champions Mumbai Indians chased down their victory target of 157 with seven wickets in hand and one over to spare against table-toppers Kings XI Punjab.
Simmons smashed 14 boundaries and two sixes in his 61-ball knock to score the IPL’s 29th century as Mumbai’s second successive win moved them to fifth in the table.
They are now just four points behind Rajasthan Royals and the Kolkata Knight Riders, while Punjab remain two points clear at the top.
Despite making a fast start, Punjab could only post a score of 156-8, with Australian George Bailey (39) helping them post a competitive total after a flurry of quick wickets.
Mumbai made a stunning beginning to their innings though, as Simmons hit three fours off Sandeep Sharma (0-37 off three overs) in the first over.
He repeated the dose against Beuran Hendricks (1-33 off four) in the fourth over as he and Michael Hussey (6) added 62 in the first six overs.
That put Mumbai in control and although Hussey was bowled by Akshar Patel (1-27 off four) playing across the line, Simmons did not let up.
The runs continued to flow readily for the West Indies batsman amongst cameos from Ambati Rayudu (17) and Rohit Sharma (18).
Simmons slowed up before reaching his milestone but reached it with a single to mid-wicket from the penultimate ball of the 19th over.
And Kieron Pollard (8 not out) hit the next ball for six over mid-on to seal his side’s victory.
Earlier, Virender Sehwag (17) hit the first ball for four before immediately following with a six over cover for Punjab.
And although he was run out in the third over, they continued to go after the Mumbai bowling, as Manan Vohra (36) and Shaun Marsh (30) added 64 runs for the second wicket in an exciting partnership.
But both fell in the space of eight balls and it triggered a collapse as the tournament’s highest run-scorer ” Australian Glenn Maxwell ” was then caught and bowled off Shreyas Gopal for two.
And the wickets continued to tumble despite Bailey’s knock as Mumbai took control of the match.
Bailey finished with two fours and two sixes in his 30-ball stay but fell in the last over hunting quick runs as Punjab finished with a below-par score.
Jaspirit Bumrah (2-31 off four) and Gopal (2-32 off four) finished with the best figures while Praveen Kumar’s economic 1-20 also proved handy.
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