IPL 10, Match 26, GL vs KXIP - Kings XI Punjab Player Ratings

Gujarat Lions extend their stay at the bottom of the points table succumbing to their fifth defeat in seven matches as Kings XI Punjab now have six points with three wins and are in the top four. Suresh Raina won the toss and invited the visitors to bat first, powered by Hashim Amla’s half century and cameos from Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell and Axar Patel managed to post 188 runs on the board.

The Lions lost wickets at regular intervals and apart from Dinesh Karthik’s half century (58 from 44 balls) and Raina’s 32 no one else had a substantial contribution. Kings XI bowlers were backed by their fielders and the power-packed Gujarat batting line-up struggled to get the big shots which hurt them the most in a big chase of 189 runs. Here are the ratings for the Kings XI Punjab players.

Manan Vohra 1/10

Except the 95 against Sunrisers Vohra has just had starts in this IPL and KXIP would want him to improve given how well his partner Hashim Amla has been batting. He became Nathu Singh’s first IPL wicket in his first over as he edged one that came in a bit after pitching outside the off-stump.

Hashim Amla 8.5/10

Following up his century with another half century Amla anchored the Punjab innings. He played his shots and shared a 70-run partnership for the 3rd wicket with Shaun Marsh. Amla hit nine boundaries and a couple of sixes to score his 65 runs at a strike rate of 165.50 from 40 balls. He was awarded the Man of the Match award for his knock.

Shaun Marsh 4/10

After losing Vohra early Marsh walked out to bat just in the second over of the game and stayed on with Amla until the 10th to lay just the perfect platform for KXIP to get a big score that they eventually managed. His 30 runs came in 24 balls with four boundaries and a six.

Glenn Maxwell 5/10

The skipper looked good for a ‘Big Show’ knock as he kicked off his inning with a six to Basil Thampi and another couple against Shubham Agarwal but before he could cause any further damage was dismissed leg-before-wicket by Ravindra Jadeja in the 15th over. Maxwell scored 31 from 18 balls. He was swift making changes in the bowling and with his field placements as well and that ensured his team registered their third win in the league.

Marcus Stoinis 2/10

Stoinis didn’t have much of a contribution to make in this game as he was dismissed for just 7 by Andrew Tye in the 18th over. Punjab would have wanted him to get the big shots going with Patel playing a fiery cameo at the other end. He had another opportunity to make an impact with the ball but his one over cost KXIP 12 runs.

Axar Patel 8/10

Axar played his part perfectly in the game. Should have been an ideal candidate for the Man of the Match with his allround show. He was sent in ahead of wicketkeeper-batsman Wriddhiman Saha at No.6 and pushed his team’s total over 180 with his 17-ball 34. He hit three boundaries and a couple of shots over it. With the ball, being the senior spinner in the team he responded well with two crucial wickets that of the opposition skipper Raina and Dwayne Smith to end GL’s hopes of chasing the target.

Wriddhiman Saha 3/10

Saha walked out in the 19th over of the inning and hit a good six but that was the only highlight of his stay that lasted just 5 balls. Behind the wickets, though he didn’t miss anything there was not a single catch or stumping opportunity that came his way.

Mohit Sharma 5/10

Against a strong Gujrat batting attack Kings wanted early wickets after his partner struck first blood Mohit also got the other opener and ended Aaron Finch’s stay after just 12 balls. He bowled a pretty economical spell in the game giving away just 25 runs in his 4 overs for a wicket.

Sandeep Sharma 5/10

Sandeep Sharma got them the breakthrough that they wanted on the last ball of the first over. The dangerous Brendon McCullum was out lbw and towards the end when Tye was making things difficult for KXIP with Karthik he bowled the perfect Yorker to knock his stumps and assured a victory for his team. Though he was a bit expensive the 2 wickets meant a lot for Punjab.

T Natarajan 2/10

The Tamil Nadu Premier League star hasn’t quite managed to hog the limelight in the IPL thus far. He has been pretty easy to negotiate for the batters and once again had an ordinary day out with the ball. Natarajan bowled three overs, spent 22 runs and went wicket-less.

KC Cariappa 7/10

It was the mystery bowler from Karnataka who turned the game in favour of the Kings XI in the middle overs. He struck twice in two balls dismissing Ravindra Jadeja cheaply for 9 and the dangerous Akshdeep Nath for a first ball duck. He finished his spell of 4 overs spending just 24 runs and got his team a couple of wickets, to sum up a pretty successful contest.