The Kings XI Punjab reign supreme in a thriller : The second match of the day played at the PCA Stadium Mohali proved to be a thriller. The Kings XI Punjab pulled out an important win by 9 runs over the Kolkata Knight Riders.
The match started with the Kings XI batting first on a sporting track of the Mohali Stadium which carries the reputation of having something on offer for both the batmen as well as the bowlers.
The opening pair in Shaun Marsh and James Hopes started the proceedings. They gave a resonable start to the innings before Hopes departed scoring 18 and the team tally of 28/1 in 3.5 overs. Marsh continued with the good work he has been doing for his team scoring yet another fire fetched innings of 40 from 32 deliveries he faced. His innings comprised of 5 hits to the boundary and a six.
In the mid overs Sangakara played a notable knock of 28. But it was a partnership between Irfan Pathan and Piyush Chawla in the concluding overs of the innings, which steered the Punjab team to a respectable total of 178/6 in 20 overs.
Pathan made 24 off 26 balls. The knock which eventually influenced the outcome of the match emerged from an unexpected corner when Piyush Chawla smashed the bowlers in all directions accumulating valueable runs for his team.
Of all the bowlers it was Ishant Sharma who had to face the brunt as his deliveries in the final over saw the ropes thrice and once, over it. Chawla ended the Kings XI adventure, remaining unbeaten on 21 off just 7 balls he faced. His knock included 3 fours and a six. Thus, the Kolkata Knight Riders were left with a target of 179 to be achieved in 20 overs.
The Knight Riders commensed their reply with Mohammed Hafeez and Sourav Ganguly taking the field. They found the going tough against some inspired spell of bowling by Sreesanth and Pathan.
Ganguly was the first to leave as he was caught by Pathan off a delivery from Sreesanth. Hafeez followed just on the heels of his captain, bowled by Pathan and the score read 23/2 in 3.1 overs.
Another in-swinging delivery from Pathan tasted the timber for the second time in the over as Brad Hodge was shown the way back to the pavilion. The Kolkata tally reaches 25/3 in 3.5 overs. The 'Ayaram Gayaram' principle seemed to be the order of the day for the Kolkata team as Debabrat Das was sent back, getting caught by Yuvraj off Sreesanth. The score crawled to 29/4 in 6 overs.
The Knight Riders found themselves in a great trouble, but for a brilliant partnership between David Hussey and Prasanta Saha. They almost made their way home when Hussey had to depart, having scored 71 off 46 balls with 4 fours and four sixes.
Saha played gem of an innings remaining unbeaten on 59 from 32 hitting 2 fours and 4 towering sixes. In the end, the target just seemed to elude and a gallant effort had to conclude with the Knight Riders reply falling short by 9 runs as they managed 169/6 in 20 overs.
Irfan Pathan was adjudged Man of the Match for his all round effort of 24 runs and a haul of 2/18. In addition, he bowled the decisive final over which sealed the match for his team.
David Hussey and Prasanta Saha shared the DLF highest sixes award.
The Kolkata Knight Riders thus, lost their fourth match in a row.
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