Kings XI Punjab registered emphatic victory against Delhi Daredevils at Dharamshala cricket ground. With this win Kings XI Punjab has kept its hope alive for the fourth and final playoff spot.
Delhi Daredevils decided to bowl on a greenish pitch in the Dharamsala mountain air, but veteran Adam Gilchrist’s scintillating 42 from 26 balls knock which includes five boundaries and 2 maximum gave much needed momentum to Punjab side and helped host team to put challenging total of 171 against tough opponent. Shaun Marsh made slow 45 and South African cricketer David Miller made 44 in just 24 balls. Rajagopal Sathish contributed 22 in just 13 balls. Irfan Pathan and Morne Morkel succeeded to check Punjab batsmen, but others fail to impress and gave away more then nine runs in an over.
In reply to 171, Delhi’s failed to make consolidated start and its three top order batsmen gone on the paltry score of 12. Captain Mahela Jayawardene and hard hitter Virender Sehwag tried to save inning, but after forming 49 runs partnership, Sehwag fell to the pray to the length delivery of Parvinder Awana and edged the ball to the keeper. Sehwag made 30 in 22 balls. Then Ben Rohrer and Jayawardene made 50 runs partnership and took team score to 111 in sixteen over. However Captain was tricked by Sandeep Sharma’s slower one and was caught in deep square-leg by Vohra. With 61 in just 23 balls, Delhi lower order batsmen played positively and in the 20th over it needed 22 runs. Chawla bowled Rohrer in first ball and despite a couple of sixes from Morkel, Daredevils fell short by seven runs.
Praveen Kumar and under 19 fame Sandeep Sharma bowled well and gave only 42 runs in their eight over and chipped with important four wickets. Kings XI Punjab batsmen David Miller adjusted Man of the Match.
It was a full house at Dharamshala, where cricket fans from all over Himachal reached to witness the match. Second match on this ground is schedule on 18th May and fans are waiting to see Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar in action at this picturesque ground. Along with Tendulkar, Mumbai team has already reached at Dharamshala.
