IPL 5: Punjab thrash listless Deccan by 25 runs

 

Hyderabad: An all-round show helped Kings XI Punjab to thrash listless Deccan Chargers by 25 runs at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium here on Tuesday.

Deccan were left stranded at 145 for 8 after the completion of 20 overs. There was some fight back offered by Akshath Reddy (24) and Abhishek Jhunjhunwala (19), but not enough to take them through. For Punjab - Praveen Kumar, David Hussey and Parvinder Awana claimed two wickets each.

The run-chase for Deccan didn’t get off to a great start as Punjab struck in the second over to remove the in-form Shikhar Dhawan (8) cheaply caught at first slip off Praveen. In the fifth over, Awana got the better of Parthiv Patel, who has been quite inconsistent this season. After scoring a six and four in the same over, Awana made a great comeback to clean up Patel for 17 off 13 balls.

With Daniel Harris still at the crease and Cameron White joining him at the middle and seemed to do some repair work, but David Hussey had other plans. In his first over, Hussey scalped Harris first and then White to reduce Deccan to 72 for 4. Deccan were looking down the barrel and expected their captain to do a rescue act, but Kumar Sangakkara (4) fell in the very next over. The Deccan skipper got a gem of a ball going away a bit that took the edge and was taken beautifully by wicketkeeper Nitin Saini diving to his left. 

Earlier, Mandeep Singh smashed a 48-ball 75 to help Punjab post a dominating 170 for 5 after put into to bat first. The young opener continued with his good run and scored eight fours and three sixes to set the tone for his team at the start. Moreover, Mandeep stitched in 55 runs for the opening wicket with Shaun Marsh.

However, Marsh (22) looked in good touch but was not able to capitalise on the start and was bowled while stepping out to Dhawan off a flighted delivery. Soon after Saini fell to leave Punjab at 58 for 2 in 7.4 overs. But these wickets didn’t deter Mandeep and he kept the scoring rate going along with David Hussey, who hit one six and a four in his 16 runs off equal number of balls.

When Punjab were going steady at 130 in 15 overs, Ashish Reddy got rid of Mandeep when he had his off-stump pegged back while the opener was looking for a big slog. While Azhar Mahmood played a handy nine-ball 14 which included two hits to the boundary before getting run out in the 17th over. But David Miller’s late surge of 28 runs at the end helped Punjab to a big total. For Deccan, Ashish took two wickets while Dhawan and Veer Pratap Singh chipped in with one wicket each.