|
Katich lifts the Punjab Kings
27/04/2008 17:28 - (SA)
Mohali - Simon Katich, brought into the Punjab Kings XI, lifted his side off the deck and to victory by four wickets over the Delhi Daredevils in their Indian Premier League match in Mohali on Sunday.
Katich overcame an early stranglehold exerted by Delhi with his 75 off 52 balls and skipper Yuvraj Singh then carried Punjab to victory with his 40 not out off 29 deliveries.
The Kings XI, chasing the Daredevils' target of 159, suffered the loss of two early wickets to slide to 11 for two.
Glenn McGrath, the veteran Australian seamer, removed Karan Goel, with the last ball of the first over, although there was some doubt as to the mode of dismissal - leg-before or caught behind, after the wicketkeeper, Dinesh Karthik, claimed the ball off the inside edge and pad.
The game was well and truly on when Mohammad Asif's lifter induced a limp prod from Kumar Sangakkara and the leading run-scorer in the competition was caught behind for just four.
Despite the loss of Mahela Jayawardene (15), courtesy of a sharp return catch by off-spinner Shoaib Malik, Katich wasn't scared to go after the bowling with a series of extravagant strokes and he reached his half-century off just 32 balls with nine fours.
He and Yuvraj added 50 in 6.1 overs before Katich was run out after totally misreading a single to Virender Sehwag at midwicket.
But it was not going to be a turning point as Yuvraj placed and timed the ball with deft elegance, all around the field. They were in the final over when Yuvraj swept Shoaib behind square to clinch victory with three balls to spare.
Jagged a delivery back
The medium-pace of Yo Mahesh saw him concede just 23 runs in his four overs and he picked up the wicket of Tanmay Srivastava (7) to be the pick of the Delhi bowlers.
The seam bowling of Asif was expensive, but he picked up two for 39, while McGrath finished with one for 29.
Earlier, the Delhi Daredevils could only manage 158 for eight against a fine all-round bowling performance by the Punjab Kings XI.
The Daredevils opted to bat first on a hard deck with good bounce and the Kings XI bowlers all but swept through the innings.
Wickets fell at regular intervals to limit the run-scoring.
Left-arm seamer Irfan Pathan started the rot in the second over when he jagged a delivery back into Sehwag (6) to trap him leg-before.
New batsman Shikhar Dhawan (0) was dismissed in the next over as Brett Lee dug the ball in and the batsman was late on a hook shot. Umpire Rudi Koertzen gave him out caught behind despite TV replays suggesting the ball came off his shoulder.
Opener Gautam Gambhir had scored 18 before the pressure got to him and he charged Vikram Singh, trying to pummel him back over his head, but only managing to hole out to deep mid-off.
Shoaib scored 19 with few shots in anger before Vikram had him caught at third man and Delhi were on the deck at 54 for four when Karthik (24) tried to heave spinner Yuvraj leg-side but only succeeded in flattening his own stumps via the inside edge.
Manoj Tiwary and Rahul Bhatia managed to briefly break the shackles as they added 34 in 4.3 overs, but Bhatia (17) was then bowled by Irfan, who stuck to an immaculate line and finished with two for 26.
Tiwary top-scored with 39 off 34 balls, with six fours, before falling foul of Vikram as he mis-hit a slap over the bowler's head.
Vikram, who was the fall guy with the ball against the Mumbai Indians, rebounded superbly on Sunday and conceded just 29 runs in his four overs, while also claiming three wickets.
The mysteries of leg-spinner Piyush Chawla saw him also concede just 29 runs in his four overs.
TEAMS:
Punjab Kings XI - Goel, Katich, Sangakkara, Yuvraj, Jayawardene, Pathan, Srivastava, Lee, Chawla, Sreesanth, Vikram.
Delhi Daredevils - Sehwag, Gambhir, Dhawan, Shoaib, Karthik, Tiwary, Bhatia, Maharoof, Asif, Mahesh, McGrath.
- SuperSport
|
