By BV Swagath
Kings XI Punjab managed to keep their hopes of qualifying for the play offs alive by beating the Delhi Daredevils by 7 runs at Dharamsala. Kings XI who have peaked very late have now collected their 7th win in 15 games. To qualify for the play offs, the Kings XI need to beat Mumbai Indians by a good margin and hope that the Sunrisers and the Royal Challengers Bangalore lose their remaining games. On the other hand, Delhi with tonight’s result have crashed to a dozen defeats in 15 games.
Kings XI asked to bat first got off to a ferocious start with 60 for 1 in 7.3 overs before slowing down but finishing with a bang to post 171 for 4 in 20 overs. Three batsmen came good for the Kings XI Punjab with Gilchrist scoring 42 from 26 balls, Shaun Marsh with 45 from 44 balls and David Miller providing the finishing touches with an unbeaten 24-ball 44 which included 4 sixes.
Delhi Daredevils were terrible in their run chase on a pitch that had extra bounce and aided lateral movement for the seamers. By the 4th over, Delhi slipped to 12 for 3. Virender Sehwag, coming in at no.5 provided some sparks to the innings with a 22-ball 30 before getting caught behind off Awana. Skipper Mahela Jayawardene who opened the innings was very slow to begin but finally got going striking a few fours. But Mahela’s fight was cut short to a 42-ball 39 when he was caught at deep mid wicket slogging Sandeep Sharma.
Delhi finished with 164 for 7 in 20 overs with Ben Rohrer reducing the margin on defeat with a 29-ball 49 that contained three sixes. For the Kings XI, swing bowler Sandeep Sharma bowled beautifully for his 3 for 23. Praveen Kumar had a good evening too, taking 1 for 19 in his 4 overs.
Toss and Teams: Delhi Daredevils led by Mahela Jayawardene have won the toss and asked the Kings XI Punjab to bat first at the beautiful HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala. Kings XI Punjab still have a slim chance of making it to the play-offs should they win this game and their last while hoping that the Sunrisers and RCB lose their remaining matches.
Delhi Daredevils: Mahela Jayawardene (C), Virender Sehwag, Unmukt Chand, David Warner, Ben Rohrer, CM Gautam (WK), Irfan Pathan, Morne Morkel, Siddarth Kaul, Umesh Yadav, Ashish Nehra
Kings XI Punjab: Adam Gilchrist (C&WK), Shaun Marsh, Mandeep Singh, Azhar Mahmood, David Miller, Manan Vohra, Rajagopal Sathish, Piyush Chawla, Praveen Kumar, Parvinder Awana, Sandeep Sharma
