Key Baneya

  • Kings XI Punjab defended a low total to defeat Delhi Daredevils by 4 runs.
  • Karun Nair scored a gutsy 34 run-knock to get Punjab to a decent score.
  • Ankit Rajpoot, Andrew Tye and Mujeeb Ur Rahman got 2 wickets each, conceding less than 7 runs an over.
Photo credit: BCCI/IPLT20.com

Kings XI Punjab kept the winning momentum on their side by defeating Delhi Daredevils by 4 runs in a low-scoring tie at the Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi on Monday. Having to defend a meagre 143 runs, Kings dried up the runs for Delhi throughout their innings and forced errors to steal another nail-biter. 🏏 SCORECARD

Having won a couple of games after setting a target, Kings XI skipper Ravichandran Ashwin had no problems when his team was put in to bat first. But a Gayle-less KXIP side struggled in the initial overs. 📷 PHOTOS

Aaron Finch failed to continue his form from the previous game and got caught at cover off the fourth ball he faced. Lokesh Rahul played a good hand of 23 but wasn’t able to keep going.

The Kings played cautiously in the middle overs, choosing to retain wickets rather than losing them in a heap. Some good cameos in the middle by Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair and David Miller in spite of the slow run rate kept the Kings in the hunt right till the end.

They weren’t able to find a late flourish to their innings which meant Kings XI scored a below par 143 runs but on a difficult pitch, the game was still on.

Unha-da Sher

Coming in to play his first game for Delhi Daredevils, Liam Plunkett rattled the KXIP top order with figures of 3 for 17 off his 4 overs and an economy rate of just 4.25.

Young Prithvi Shaw rode his luck in his debut Indian Premier League match and raced to 22 off 10 balls before being knocked over by Ankit Rajpoot. Rajpoot led the bowling attack and pegged the Delhi Daredevils back with another quick wicket. His figures of 4-0-23-2 gave Kings an early advantage in the second innings.

Sadda Sher

Ankit Rajpoot bowled an excellent spell of 4 overs, where he took two big wickets of Prithvi Shaw and Glenn Maxwell and gave away just 23 runs to bring the Delhi middle-order in to bat much earlier than they would have anticipated. That ultimately made the difference for his side as they were able to defend the lowest total at the Feroz Shah Kotla in the IPL.

Barinder Sran got taken for a few runs in his first spell but a rescue job by captain Ashwin and Andrew Tye, both of whom bowled with a decent economy rate, kept Delhi behind the asking rate.

Turning Point

After the seamers had done their job for KXIP, it was the spinners’ turn to bring the game home. Ashwin led from the front once again and finished his 4 overs giving away just 19 runs which took the asking rate up in the middle overs and ultimately made things uncomfortable for the Delhi batsmen.

The closing overs saw a close contest with Delhi needing 21 runs off the last two overs. Sran bowled a perfect penultimate over, picking up the wicket of Plunkett and giving away just 4 runs.

Bowling the last over in a pressure situation with a challenging Shreyas Iyer taking charge, young Mujeeb Ur Rahman rose to the occasion and kept Delhi down to 12 runs, winning the game for his team in the process.

Key Chalda Hai?

After another away victory, KXIP are back on top of the league standings with 10 points. They will now face Sunrisers Hyderabad once again at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad on Friday, 27th April.