Kings XI Punjab prevailed in yet another final-over thriller in the IPL as they beat Delhi Daredevils by four runs at the Feroz Shah Kotla on Monday.
Punjab batted first and struggled to reach 143 for eight in their 20 overs with Karun Nair’s 34 the highest total. Delhi’s England recruit Liam Plunkett had a dream start to his IPL, finishing with 3-17 and seemed to have done enough for a win.
In the chase, Daredevils batsman Shreyas Iyer (57) kept things together but with 17 needed from the last over bowled by Afghanistan’s teen sensation Mujeeb Ur Rahman (2-25), failed to take his team past the finish line.
Here are the talking points from Punjab’s superb win in Delhi that took them to the top of the table.
AVESH KHAN RATTLES PUNJAB
Delhi quick Avesh Khan made a spectacular start to his IPL campaign. He bowled with serious pace in the opening over, getting the wicket of Punjab’s Aussie opener Aaron Finch with a ball clocked at 148.7 kph (92mph). The short of length ball hurried onto the batsman who mistimed a pull to cover.
Avesh returned to dismiss Punjab star Yuvraj Singh, with the batsman late on his deliveries. Khan consistently bowled at or above 90mph and hurried every batsman with his pace and bounce. Surely, India selectors have taken note.
DREAM DEBUT FOR PLUNKETT
Plunkett took 3-17 from his four overs. Image: BCCI.
England pacer Plunkett was playing his first competitive match since February, having just recovered from a hamstring injury. He was a late replacement for the injured Kagiso Rabada and on Monday showed he can be as valuable.
Plunkett made maximum use of the pace on offer in the Delhi wicket. He burst through the defence of Mayank Agarwal with a ball bowled at 146kph. Well-disguised slower deliveries accounted for KL Rahul and Nair as Plunkett finished with 3-17 from his four.
SHAW IN A HURRY
Delhi opener and India’s U19 World Cup winning captain Prithvi Shaw only had one thought in his mind – attack. He threw his bat at almost every delivery and was lucky to get a couple of boundaries through the edge of his bat.
His mode of dismissal – bowled by Ankit Rajpoot playing a strange-looking pull off the front foot – doesn’t reflect too well on his abilities. Shaw is one of the finest young batsmen to emerge from India’s domestic cricket but the pressure of IPL makes the best do strange things.
REDEMPTION FOR MUJEEB
Great finished @Mujeeb_Zadran👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
— Mohammad Nabi (@MohammadNabi007) April 23, 2018
Punjab’s Afghan spinner Mujeeb had put himself under pressure in the field, letting the ball run through his legs at point for a boundary in the seventh over during Delhi’s chase. But he redeemed himself by comprehensively bowling dangerman Rishabh Pant first ball.
Then bowling the final over, Mujeeb showed immense composure while defending 17. With set batsman Iyer at the crease, Mujeeb kept his cool despite his second ball being deposited for a six. Five were needed from the final ball and Mujeeb bowled a leg-cutter to have Iyer caught at deep cover. Game, set and match.
AMAZING ASHWIN
Punjab captain and spinner Ravi Ashwin did not take any wickets but his spell was worth its weight in gold. The premier spinner stuck mainly to off-spinners in Delhi on Monday and finished with excellent figures of 0-19.
An economy of less than five while defending 144 is an amazing effort and Ashwin deserves full marks for it. Maybe the subtle warning sent to him by unnamed people in the Indian management through a report in a daily, putting his Test position under the scanner for switching to leg-spin, has worked.
