Kings XI Punjab stayed in the hunt for a playoffs berth with a stunning 12-run victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad in Dubai on Saturday.
Defending 126, their bowlers showed great control and discipline in restricting them to 114. With this victory, KXIP climbed to fifth spot with 10 points from 11 matches.
As things stand now, KXIP and Kolkata Knight Riders will have to fight it out for the fourth spot in the playoffs.
SRH chase got off to a flier with David Warner and Jonny Bairstow adding 56 runs in 6.2 overs before Ravi Bishnoi bowled the SRH captain. Bairstow departed in the next over and though Manish Pandey and Vijay Shankar put up a brief resistance, there was no stopping KXIP.
Chris Jordan and young Arshdeep Singh were the most successful bowlers with three wickets each. SRH needed 14 off the last over but managed only one. Arshdeep ended up taking two wickets.
SRH bowlers too had produced a clinical performance to restrict Kings XI Punjab to a modest 126 for seven.
They responded impressively to their skipper David Warner’s decision to field first, picking wickets at regular intervals to control the innings.
KXIP skipper KL Rahul (27), Mandeep Singh (17) and Chris Gayle (20) all got starts but their innings never got going.
SRH perfectly planned Gayle’s dismissal who came at No.3. They kept the big-hitting batsman quiet for a long time, consistently bowling wide of the off stump and in the process frustrated him.
Gayle repeatedly tried to force his way out of the shackles but was dismissed by his West Indian teammate Jason Holder (2/27), caught at long-off by Warner with a wide of the stumps delivery in the 10th over.
Rashid Khan (2/14) then went through the defence of captain Rahul in the first ball off the next over as KXIP slumped to 66 for three.
Glenn Maxwell’s (12) struggle with the bat continued as he too departed soon, holed out to Warner at long-on off Sandeep Sharma (2/29) before Deepak Hooda was stumped by Jonny Bairstow off Rashid.
Boundaries and sixes were hard to come by and KXIP batsmen’s struggle can be gauged from the fact they failed to find the fence for more than 11 overs, which was finally broken by Nicholas Pooran in the 19th over.
Pooran ended being the top-scorer, making an unbeaten 32 off 28 balls.
