Dharamsala: Kings XI Punjab kept their hopes alive as they won their match by the slender margin of just seven runs against the Delhi Daredevils at the HPCA Stadium here on Thursday. Ben Rohrer and Virender Sehwag did well to bring DD close to the target of 171 but got out after scoring 49 and 30 runs respectively. Praveen Kumar and Sandeep Sharma did some fine bowling as they gave away just 42 runs in their eight overs and picked up four wickets amongst them.
Earlier it was brilliant performances from David Miller, Adam Gilchrist and Shaun Marsh which helped Kings XI to setup a total of 170 in their 20 overs.
Gilchrist smashed 42 run off just 26 balls whereas miller smoked away 48 runs off just 24 balls.
Delhi daredevils had a poor start because of Praveen and Sandeep who jolted them as they picked up three wickets in quick succession which reduced Delhi to 12 after four overs. Mahela Jayawardene was under all sorts of pressure with the early fall of wickets.
Sehwag and Jayawardene added 49 runs for the fourth wicket whereas Jayawardene added 50 runs with Rohrer for the fifth wicket. Sehwag smoked away 30 runs off 22 balls which included six fours and one six whereas Jayawardene departed after scoring 39 runs off 42 balls.
Piyush Chawla and Azhar Mahmood became the soft target for DD as they leaked runs on consistent basis. Ben Rohrer and Morne Morkel tried to chase down the target in the last two overs but fell short by seven runs. Both the southpaws were dismissed by Chawla in the final over. Rohrer ended up scoring 49 runs whereas Morkel smashed 13 runs off four balls.
Earlier in the match, it was a brilliant opening partnership from the batting duo of Gilchrist and Marsh who added 60 runs for the opening stand. Gilchrist smashed 42 off just 26 balls and gave Punjab a perfect foundation for a stiff total.
Marsh and Miller added 34 runs for the third wicket and ensured that Punjab will reach a huge total quite easily. The few lusty blows in the end from Miller made the world of difference to the innings of Kings XI. He ended up scoring 44 runs off just 24 balls which was studded with three fours and four sixes. R Sathish also batted well with him once again and smashed 22 runs off 13 balls and helped Kings XI Punjab to post the total of 170 runs in their 20 overs.