May 16, 2013
Brief Scorecard: Kings XI Punjab 171 for 4 (Marsh 45, Miller 44*, Gilchrist 42) beat Delhi Daredevils 164 for 7 (Rohrer 49, Sandeep 3-23) by seven runs
David Miller's 44 off 26 helped Kings XI Punjab put up a strong total
May 16, 2013
Brief Scorecard: Kings XI Punjab 171 for 4 (Marsh 45, Miller 44*, Gilchrist 42) beat Delhi Daredevils 164 for 7 (Rohrer 49, Sandeep 3-23) by seven runs
David Miller's 44 off 26 helped Kings XI Punjab put up a strong total
NEW DELHI: Kings XI Punjab strengthened their playoffs chance beating Delhi Daredevils by 7 runs in their IPL clash at the HPCA stadium on Thursday.
After posting a massive 171/4, Punjab restricted Daredevils to 164/7 , pulling off an impressive victory.
Delhi Daredevils looked out of sync right from the start of their innings as they lost Unmukt Chand, Irfan Pathan and David Warner with just 12 runs on board.
Praveen Kumar bowled out Unmukt Chand (7) to give Delhi first blow.
Sandeep Sharma capitalised on the breakthrough provided by Praveen and dismissed Pathan and Warner in consecutive deliveries to reduce Delhi to 12/3 in four overs.
Punjab pacer Parvinder Awana ended Virender Sehwag's challenge, giving Delhi Daredevils fourth blow in the 11th over in their chase of 172.
Sehwag made 22-ball-30, trying to rescue his side from early setback. However, he couldn't stay longer and gave an easy catch to Adam Gilchrist at the score of 61.
Mahela Jayawardene was the fifth man to fall after a slow innings of 39 that came off 42 balls.
Ben Rohrer (49 off 29) then displayed some fireworks, reviving Delhi's hope. But Piyush Chawla ended his fight in the final over.
Kings XI Punjab rode on David Miller and captain Adam Gilchrist's whirlwind knocks to post a challenging 171 for four.
Miller scored an unbeaten 44 off just 24 balls towards the end, while Gilchrist made 42 off 26 balls upfront. Shaun Marsh also played a sedate 44-ball 45-run knock to help Kings XI's cause.
Sent into bat, Gilchrist got Kings XI off to a blazing start racing the hosts to the 50-run mark in the sixth over.
Gilchrist sent the Delhi bowlers on a leather hunt from the word go. He was particularly severe on Ashish Nehra (2/38) as he clobbered the left-arm pacer to all parts of the ground to pick up 27 runs off the bowlers opening two overs.
Gilchrist was going great guns before perishing while going for one too many big shots, caught by Irfan Pathan off his own bowling in the eight over. Her hit five fours and two towering sixes.
After the initial onslaught, the Delhi bowlers manged to put brakes on the scoring as Kings XI squandered a bright start to find themselves at 103 for two in the 15th over.
Once Gilchrist departed at the team score of 60, Kings XI's run rate dropped considerably as the hosts scored just 43 runs in the next seven overs losing the wicket of Azhar Mahmood (9). Mahmood was caught by Siddharth Kaul off Nehra.
Marsh and Miller then stepped up the tempo and smashed Umesh Yadav for two fours and a six to pick up 16 runs off the 16th over.
Marsh, however, departed in the next over, caught at long-on by Pathan off Morne Morkel (1/22). He struck seven fours during his scratchy 44-ball knock.
In Miller's company R Satish's played a 13-ball 22-run cameo before being caught by Ben Rohrer off Nehra in the penultimate ball off the innings.
Miller, however, ensured that Kings XI cross the 170-run mark, hitting Nehra for a four off the last ball. The South African struck three boundaries and four sixes during his knock.
Courtesy: PTI
