Kings XI Punjab pulled the brakes on their four-match losing streak when they defeated the Gujarat Lions by 26 runs on Sunday evening. Put in to bat first, KXIP posted 188-7 riding on Hashim Amla’s half-century, and then, restricted the visitors to 162-7 in the second half of the game.
In the afternoon, Amla carried on from his unbeaten 104 against Mumbai Indians in the previous match and rode his way to a fluent 40-ball 65. The KXIP opener drove fluently and collected the bulk of his runs through the off-side. He hit nine boundaries and two sixes – one, a mishit off Andrew Tye, and the other a clean hit over extra cover off Ravindra Jadeja. He was especially severe on the left-arm spinner, taking him for 21 runs in twelve balls.
Amla was involved in two significant partnerships; he added 70 runs in the company of Shaun Marsh for the second wicket and then played second-fiddle in the 47-run stand with captain Glenn Maxwell. Amla brought up his half-century right at the end of the tenth over and carried on until the fourteenth over before he handed the leg-spinner Shubham Agarwal his maiden IPL wicket.
Shaun Marsh’s 30 (24 balls), Glenn Maxwell’s stroke-filled 31 (18 balls, 1 four, 3 sixes) and Axar Patel’s cameo in the last five overs (34 from 17 balls, 3 fours and 2 sixes) were the other notable scores in the KXIP innings.
Andrew Tye was the most successful bowler for the Lions; the Australian pacer dismissed Marsh and Marcus Stoinis in his second and fourth overs respectively, eventually finishing with figures of 2-35. Nathu Singh made a fine start to his IPL career; he produced a beautiful outswinger that found the outside edge of Manan Vohra’s bat which was brilliantly pouched by Dinesh Karthik diving to his right. However, an injury prevented Nathu from completing his four overs, and his returns on the day read 2-0-7-1.
The Gujarat Lions lost Brendon McCullum leg before wicket in the first over of the run-chase; the opener missed a low full toss from Sandeep Sharma and was rapped on the pads in front of the stumps. Suresh Raina walked in to bat and got going immediately; he cracked two boundaries through the off-side in the third over and then welcomed KC Cariappa with a hit through midwicket in the fifth over.
In the sixth over, Aaron Finch (13 from 12) drove one through cover before being intercepted by Marcus Stoinis, who collected the ball just before it made contact with the ground; the third umpire was called in to decide if the catch was cleanly taken, and after viewing several replays, he sent the batsman on his way.
Raina was dismissed in the ninth over when he attempted to go over the top but found his opposite number right at the edge of the long on boundary; the Lions captain made 32 from 24 balls.
Dinesh Karthik, who got off the mark with a first ball boundary and hit some powerful strokes during his stay at the crease, played lone warrior; he remained unbeaten on 58, made from 44 balls and hit six fours during his stay at the crease. Despite Karthik’s aggressive batting, the Lions finished 26 runs short.
For KXIP, if the quick bowlers provided the breakthroughs at the top, the spinners did exceptionally to keep things quiet in the middle overs. KC Cariappa and Axar Patel together conceded 60 runs in their eight overs, but they picked up four wickets in the middle overs; Axar dismissed Raina and Dwayne Smith, while Cariappa saw the back of Ravindra Jadeja and Akshdeep Nath off successive deliveries.
Brief Scores
Kings XI Punjab: 188-7 (Hashim Amla 65, Axar Patel 34, Glenn Maxwell 31, Andrew Tye 2-35) beat
Gujarat Lions: 162-7 (Dinesh Karthik 58*, Suresh Raina 32, KC Cariappa 2-24) by 26 runs.
Man of the Match: Hashim Amla
