Mitchell Johnson stars as Kings XI Punjab defeats Rajasthan Royals

Sport360 staff 12:18 22/04/2015
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  • Unstoppable: Mitchell Johnson bowled an excellent Super Over as Punjab beat Rajasthan last night.

    Fast bowler Mitchell Johnson kept his cool as Kings XI Punjab ended Rajasthan Royals’ winning run by clinching a thrilling Super Over victory at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad last night.

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    Chasing 192 for a win, Punjab finished at 191 for six, the same score as Rajasthan Royals, forcing a one-over face-off. In the Super Over, Punjab batted first with David Miller and Shaun Marsh, who had scored half centuries earlier, taking strike.

    Chris Morris trapped Miller lbw off the very first ball of the over. Marsh then hit two boundaries as Punjab finished at 15 for two.

    For Rajasthan, captain Shane Watson and James Faulkner took strike. They too had a poor start as Watson was bowled for a duck by Johnson. Steven Smith came in and hit a boundary off a no ball.

    However, with six on the board, Rajasthan lost their second wicket as Faulkner got run out trying to look for a bye as their innings ended.

    Earlier, opener Ajinkya Rahane’s calculated assault helped Rajasthan Royals put up a strong total of 191 for six.

    Rahane cracked 74 off 54 balls with six boundaries and two sixes as he gave Royals a great start, adding 95 for the opening wicket with skipper Watson (45 off 35 balls, 5×4, 2×6).

    Out of his first five boundaries, Rahane hit four off Johnson, signalling his intentions. Watson, on the other hand, took 24 balls to reach 18 as he looked to play a long innings.

    Then in the ninth over, Watson launched into off-break bowler Shivam Sharma. He hit the spinner for three boundaries and a six to kickstart his innings.

    Just as he was looking good for a big knock, a superb piece of glovework from Wriddhiman Saha resulted in a leg-side stumping that ended his innings.

    Next man in Deepak Hooda (19 off nine balls) kept up the scoring as Rahane reached his half-century with a six over square-leg off Anureet Singh and powered Royals to a sizeable score.

    In reply, Punjab got off to a dreadful start, losing both openers Virender Sehwag and Murali Vijay to run-outs. 

    Marsh (65 from 40 balls) and left-handed batsman Miller (54 off 30) kept them in the hunt. Punjab kept losing wickets but maintained a good run rate.

    Lower order batsmen Saha (19 off eight), Axar Patel (12 from seven) and Johnson (13 from seven) fought until the end and enforced the Super Over.

    Man-of-the-match Marsh lauded his team for not losing hope and coming out on top against an in-form team like Rajasthan.

    “It was nice to get the win. The boys really worked hard the last few days in training and it gets us back in the competition now,” Marsh said.

    “I was hitting the ball well and picked out certain areas of the ground. Glad that it worked out.”

    Marsh also hailed the bowling of Johnson in the Super Over that sealed the win. “I’ve never batted in a Super Over before, so it was a little different. Credit to Johnson who defended it brilliantly.”

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