IPL 5: Punjab dismiss Chennai by 6 wickets to stay afloat

Returning after a long lay-off, Adam Gilchrist led from the front to take Kings XI Punjab to a comfortable six-wicket win over Chennai Super Kings at the HPCA Stadium on Thursday. Punjab’s eighth victory in 15 matches kept alive their hopes of making the IPL play-offs this season, while Chennai, having played all their matches and finished on 17 points, stay fourth in the standings but will now have to depend on other results going their way to make it through.

A hamstring injury had kept out Gilchrist for the most part of this tournament, but he showed no signs of rustiness in his unbeaten 64 as Punjab chased 121 with 21 balls to spare. Together with Mandeep Singh, the Australian got the hosts off to a brisk start, with fifty runs up in the seventh over itself. Though Mandeep was then bowled by Albie Morkel for 24 and Dwayne Bravo – the only Chennai batsman to make a substantial contribution earlier – got Nitin Saini and David Hussey out cheaply soon after, the total was too little to allow any pressure to build on Punjab.

The 40-year-old Gilchrist, meanwhile, rolled back the years and Yo Mahesh in particular suffered, going for 22 runs in the 15th over. He thrashed Mahesh for two sixes over square leg and two more fours – over fine leg and then over mid-off – and from then on, the game as a contest was over, Azhar Mahmood finishing things off with a boundary off Morkel to also improve his side’s run-rate somewhat.

Earlier, Punjab’s pacers repaid the faith put in them by Gilchrist, who sent in Chennai to bat on a green pitch in overcast conditions in Dharamsala. Praveen Kumar made full use of the swing on offer, and dismissed both openers – Murali Vijay (10) and Michael Hussey (7) – in consecutive overs, both edging simple catches behind to the wicketkeeper. He could have had a third one as well, but Piyush Chawla put down a simple catch at slip off Suresh Raina with Chennai struggling at 25 for 2 at the end of the Powerplay overs, and Kumar finished with still impressive figures of 2 for 18.

Briefly, it looked as if Punjab might have to pay a high price for the dropped catch, with Raina launching two sixes off Mahmood soon after. However, he was gone two deliveries later, Gilchrist taking another easy catch after Raina needlessly chased a wide delivery and only managed a thick outside edge. And when captain MS Dhoni was caught at third man by Saini off Parvinder Awana, Chennai were left in dire straits at 46 for 4 at the end of the 11th over.

Bravo, however, fought back with a gritty 43-ball 48, picking Chawla for 12 runs off his only over, and his 32-run partnership with Ravindra Jadeja (13) and then a 34-run partnership with Morkel (14) – the biggest of the innings – ensured Chennai reached a total that at least gave their bowlers something to defend. Although David Hussey was smashed for two consecutive sixes by Bravo and Mahmood gave away a four and a six to Morkel in the 18th, Awana (2 for 12) and Ryan Harris (1 for 24) did well to keep Chennai to 120 for 7, a total their batsmen eventually chased without much fuss.

IPL 5: Delhi beat Punjab to seal playoff berth

Mahela Jayawardene's scored a match-winning 56 to help Delhi Daredevils beat Kings XI Punjab in the 64th match of the Indian Premier League at the Feroz Shah Kotla in New Delhi. Delhi managed to reach the target with an over to spare as they consolidated their position at the top of the table with 20 points and become the first team to seal the playoff berth.

Parvinder Awana (3 for 22) was exceptional with the ball for visitors, especially early on, when they had slumped to 37 for 4, but Naman Ojha (34 off 29) and Irfan Pathan (19 off 10) provided enough support to help Jayawardene confirm Delhi's place in the last four.

This was after the DD top-order failed once again as both Virender Sehwag (9) and David Warner (14) promised a lot of fireworks as 21 runs came off the first two overs but Praveen Kumar gave Punjab early breakthrough in the third over when he dismissed David Warner (14). But Praveen Kumar gave Punjab breakthrough in the third over when he dismissed David Warner.

Soon Awana also struck with the very first ball to dismiss Sehwag in the fourth over as the hosts were reduced to 28 for 2. Then Awana struck twice in the sixth over to dismiss Ross Taylor (0) and Venugopal Rao (7). Awana's effort rocked Delhi run chase. But the gritty Sri Lankan batsman consolidated Delhi's innings as he added 58 runs for the fifth wicket with Naman Ojha (34).

Piyush Chawla dismissed Naman Ojha in the the fourteenth over to reduce Delhi to 95 for 5. But Jayawardene and Pathan added 45 runs for the sixth wicket to help the home team clinch a superb victory.

Earlier, Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron produced a fantastic bowling effort for Delhi as they restricted Punjab to a modest 138 for 8. Yadav (3 for 21) and Aaron (2 for 19) shared five wickets between them, while the fielders took some sharp catches as well as inflicting two run-outs.

Punjab's skipper David Hussey top-scored for the visitors with an unbeaten 40 off 35 balls, but he lacked any real support from his teammates. There were no significant partnership as Hussey was the only batsmen trying to take the attack back to the opposition.

Opting to bat first, Punjab were dealt an early blow after Shaun Marsh fell in the fourth over for 13. He tried to flick Aaron on the leg side and instead sent a fine edge to wicketkeeper Naman Ojha. Mandeep Singh (21) hit a few streaky boundaries but he soon fell to Aaron as he was smartly caught by Sehwag.

Punjab were then dealt another blow as Nitin Saini (15) took a long walk back to the pavilion as he edged a ball that moved away from Yadav to Sehwag at first slip. Punjab were struggling at 54 for 3 at this stage. David Miller (4) was then run out by a Pawan Negi direct hit to leave Punjab on 63 for 4 at the halfway stage.

Hussey and Azhar Mahmood (9) tried to do a repair job, but all went in vain as Umesh send back Mahmood courtesy of a stunning catch at wide long-off by Irfan Pathan. Last match's hero Gurkeerat Singh Ahluwalia (8) hit two boundaries but then a classical left-arm spinner's delivery from Negi got better of him. Piyush Chawla (10) helped the Kings past 100 in a 29-run stand with Hussey, but after he fell, the visitors battled and eventually set 139 for victory.

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.

IPL 5: Rajasthan thump Punjab to stay alive

Rajasthan Royals produced an all-round show as they thumped Kings XI Punjab by 43 runs to end their four-match losing streak in the Indian Premier League here on Saturday. Chasing 178 for a win, KXIP were in the game only for a brief while when opener Shaun Marsh (34) was going great guns with some lusty hits but once he was out in the ninth over it was all over for the home side as they lost wickets at regular intervals.

Chasing a competitive 178, Punjab got off to shaky start losing opener Mandeep Singh in the second over to Shane Watson. Marsh then up the ante with some big shots but soon Punjab lost their skipper David Hussey and Punjab were reduced to 55 for 3 in eight overs. But just when Marsh looked settled, Johan Botha unleashed a peach of a delivery to clean bowled the left-hander. 

Azhar Mahmood and Gurkeerat Singh tried to stabilise the innings but with the run-rate rising with every passing over, Punjab's defeat looked inevitable and the home team managed 134 for 8 in their allotted overs.

Earlier, the Rajasthan Royals compiled a challenging 177 for 6 in their IPL encounter with the Punjab. Skipper Rahul Dravid crafted a classy 46 and was ably complimented by Shane Watson, Ashok Menaria and Brad Hodge. Having won the toss and elected to bat first, Dravid lost his opening partner Ajinkya Rahane (5) in the second over, as he was caught behind off Ryan Harris' second ball.

Dravid and the powerful Shane Watson then shared a 71-run stand, with Watson scoring 36 off just 17 balls, including two massive sixes. But the legspinner scalped him, as he was caught in the deep by Harris. Dravid then follwed back to the pavilion in the fourteenth over. Dravid hit eight four in his 39-ball innings. He had added 41 with Menaria (34) for the third wicket before he took long walk back. Maneria carried on the tempo with some lusty hits. He was though lucky as he was dropped near the boundary by Mandeep Singh. He was eventually in the 16th over and became Chawla's second victim.

Brad Hodge then played a cameo of 36 off 23 balls, with a pair of sixes and fours. Johan Botha chipped in with a couple of fours himself, as Rajasthan set a testing target. Harris, however, had the last laugh as he claimed Hodge's wicket in the final over. For Punjab, Ryan Harris and Piyush Chawla picked up two wickets apiece. Praveen Kumar once again remained wicketless and went for 32 runs. Awana gave away 34 runs and Mahmood proved expensive giving away 37 in the four overs he bowled.

IPL 5: Nervous Punjab hold on to beat Bangalore

Kings XI Punjab kept their nerves towards the end of their chase to register a four-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bangalore in an Indian Premier League (IPL) nail-biter at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Wednesday. Chasing 159 to win, the visitors were on their way to an easy win at one time with just 13 runs needed to close out the match, but a flurry of wickets, especially three run-outs, took the match into the last over.

With five runs required in the last over to win, Piyush Chawla smashed Vinay Kumar for a six off the fifth ball to see his team home.

Nitin Saini (50), David Hussey (45) and Mandeep Singh (43) played crucial hands in the chase. This was Punjab’s second successive win and now they lie fourth in the standings with five wins in 10 matches, while Bangalore lost their second successive match to be 6th.

Punjab got off to a good start with Mandeep and Shaun Marsh adding 38 off 28 balls. Mandeep did the bulk of the scoring in a 38-run partnership that was ended by Andrew McDonald, who cleaned up Marsh for 8. Mandeep was impressive during his innings before being trapped in front of the stumps by K Appanna. His wicket gave Punjab some hope but Saini and captain Hussey were determined to take the team over the line, especially Saini who showed a lot of nous during his stay. He and Hussey added 73 to take the visitors within 13 runs of victory. But those 13 runs took a lot of getting with Saini falling to Zaheer Khan and the run-outs of Abhishek Nayar, Hussey and Azhar Mahmood.

Earlier, after being put into bat, Bangalore lost Mayank Agarwal early as Aussie Ryan Harris – playing his first match this season - sent his off-stump cartwheeling with only seven runs on the board. Virat Kohli joined Chris Gayle and began a partnership that at one time threatened to take the game away from the visitors. Parvinder Awana and Chawla in particular were at the receiving end as Gayle played some mutilating shots. Both added 119 runs off 83 balls as the team headed for a big total but Punjab’s Pakistani import Mahmood came back to end the West Indian’s innings with a well-aimed bouncer in the 16th over.

Gayle scored 71 off 42 balls with six boundaries and four sixes to take his IPL tally to 407 runs in nine matches this season. One of his sixes travelled 111 metres, an IPL 5 record. Chawla then got in on the act and accounted for Kohli in the next over. The India batsman made 45 off 42 balls and played a perfect foil to Gayle. The twin blow reined in the hosts’ innings. The Mahmood-led Punjab bowling came up trumps yielding just 36 runs in the last five overs. Mahmood, who also has the citizenship of England, sent back McDonald and AB de Villiers in the last over to restrict Bangalore to 158 for 5, which was at least 20 runs fewer.

IPL 5: Clinical KKR cruise to easy win over Punjab

Gautam Gambhir scored an unbeaten 66 while Jacques Kallis remained not out on 30 as clinical Kolkata Knight Riders thrashed Kings XI Punjab by eight wickets in an IPL 5 match at the PCA Stadium in Mohali on Wednesday. A disciplined bowling and fielding performance helped Kolkata restrict Punjab to just 124 for 7 and then skipper Gambhir led from the front to make sure Kolkata reached the target with 3.3 overs to spare.

Gambhir's match-winning innings included seven fours and one six. Brendon McCullum looked dangerous early on but failed to capitalise on the good start as he fell cheaply to Chawla scoring 15. Chawla also picked up his second wicket four overs later when Manvinder Bisla (11) dragged a delivery on to his stumps.

Soon, Kallis joined the captain in the middle to finish off things and did it in style with a huge six. He stayed unbeaten by scoring 30 off 23 balls. The duo shared an unbeaten 53-run stand as KKR cruised to an easy win.

Earlier, Punjab won the toss and elected to bat, but the home team lost Paul Valthaty in the third over, as Brett Lee made early inroads for Kolkata. Shaun Marsh (33) then joined Adam Gilchrist in the middle, but the latter was forced to leave the field due to a hamstring pull when he was on 28.

After six overs, Punjab were well placed at 45 for 1 with Marsh and Mandeep Singh (6) in the middle. After Gilchrist's exit Punjab struggled to score freely and Mandeep was the second man to fall as he gave away his wicket to Laxmipathy Balaji who had him caught at the third man. Soon he was joined by Marsh in the middle when Lee struck to get him caught behind. Though, Marsh's dismissal in the 14th over, however, turned out to be a little controversial.

Punjab then lost David Hussey (10) immediately in the next over for a poor judgement of a run and to leave the team reeling at 87 for 4 in the 15th over. Punjab failed to get a substantial partnership after that as Dimitri Mascarenhas (9) and Paras Dogra (6) departed in quick succession. Gilchirst returned in the 19th over to try and add some late runs, but by then the Kolkata bowlers had already done the damage. The Punjab skipper clubbed a six in the final over to take his team to 124 and remained unbeaten on 40.

For Kolkata, wily West Indian offspinner Sunil Narine (2 for 24) and Brett Lee (2 for 26) starred with the ball. Laxmipathy Balaji and Rajat Bhatia also picked up a wicket each for the visitors.