IPL 10, Match 4 KXIP v RPS Review: A Maxwell special helps Punjab start off their campaign on a winning note

It was a sensation batting display by the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) as they upstaged a resurgent Rising Pune Supergiant by 6 wickets and with an over to spare in their opening clash of IPL 10. Captain Glenn Maxwell led from the front and literally dominated with the bat and shared a handy partnership of 82 runs with Miller for the 5th wicket to help them chase down the competitive total with relative ease.

Earlier in the day, it was the 14.5 crores man Ben Stokes who scored his maiden IPL fifty and was ably supported by Manoj Tiwary who chipped in with a quickfire innings of 40 of 23 deliveries. Despite a middle-order stutter Punjab raced off to the total with utmost ease and reached the target with an over to spare.

Kings XI Punjab captain Glenn Maxwell won the toss and opted to bowl. Opener Ajinkya Rahane who began his IPL 10 campaign in a rollicking fashion scoring 60 of 34 balls against Mumbai Indians looked out of sorts and couldn’t get the timing going. His partner Mayank Agarwal was dismissed by Sandeep Sharma in the very over of the match and the batsman was cleaned up by a terrific inswinger from Sharma.

Manan Vohra dropped a sitter of Rahane as the right-hander miscued a slower delivery from Mohit Sharma and to add insult to injury Rahane smashed him for a huge six over backward square leg in the very next delivery. Newcomer T. Natarajan was introduced in 7th over and the result was immediate. The Indian version of Mustafizur Rahman dismissed Rahane with a normal paced delivery outside the off stump. He flashed at the delivery way outside the off stump and was holed out in the deep cover region.

Captain Steve Smith struck some delightful shots to start off his innings but couldn’t carry on the good work and gave away his wicket to countrymen Marcus Stoinis. Smith went for an airy flick but was hold out at the deep square leg by Manan Vohra. The 14.5 crores man Ben Stokes who came out in the middle after the fall of Rahane’s wicket was joined by former captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Stokes began in an attacking fashion and smashed leggie Swapnil Singh for a monstrous six over the mid-wicket region. He followed it up with another boundary but the man who was at other end was struggling to get going. Dhoni wasn’t timing the ball and eventually gave away his wicket to newcomer Swapnil Singh. It was a slower delivery and Dhoni attempted to guide it through the off side region but all he managed was to give a straightforward return catch to the bowler. He juggled 3 times before grabbing on to it in the 4th attempt.

Domestic veteran Manoj Tiwary came out in the middle to join Stokes. The southpaw was going great guns and looked in complete control of proceedings. He unleashed the big shots when required and raced to his maiden IPL fifty in a mere 30 balls. His innings of 50 of 32 deliveries contained 2 fours and 3 gigantic blows before he toe-ended a delivery straight back to the bowler Axar Patel.

Tiwary didn’t allow the pressure to build and smashed some exceptional shots. It was a perfect answer to the critics who had severely lashed out at the team management for his selection. His breezy innings of 40 of 23 deliveries included 3 fours and a couple of fours. Dan Christian struck some lusty blows in the final over to propel Pune to a score of over 160. Sandeep Sharma was the pick of the KXIP bowlers and finished with 2/33 in his allotted 4 overs.

Chasing a competitive total openers Manan Vohra and Hashim Amla began in a confident fashion. Amla began with a boundary of the opening over of Ashoke Dinda while his partner Vohra struck two delightful blows in the 2nd over of Dan Christian. Vohra then stepped down the track to Dinda as if he was a spinner and deposited him over the mid-on boundary for a monstrous six.

Dinda got his revenge in the penultimate delivery of the over when he miscued a short of length delivery straight to Manoj Tiwary in the deep square leg region. Bengal lad Wriddhiman Saha came out in the middle to join Amla and looked in sublime touch. He smashed a hat-trick of boundaries in the first 7 deliveries of his innings before being bamboozled by a sensational wrong un from Imran Tahir. It deceived him in the flight and castled his stumps.

Axar Patel was send up the order to push the run rate up and counter the threat of Imran Tahir but it was not to be as the southpaw struggled his way to 28 of 27 deliveries before falling to Imran Tahir. Meanwhile, 17 year old Rahul Chahar induced Amla into a false shot and managed to miscue it straight to the deep cover fielder. From there on the Australian South African duo of Glenn Maxwell and David Warner took it upon themselves to easy of the nerves. Maxwell smashed a huge six of teenager Chahar in the 13th over followed by a four and a six by Maxwell and Miller respectively in the very next over of Rajat Bhatia.

Maxwell smashed a straight six of Ben Stokes in the final delivery of the 15th over to bring down the calculation to only 36 required off the last 5. He was simply unstoppable from thereon and took on the Pune bowlers by the scruff of the neck. He smashed as many as 4 big sixes during his unbeaten innings of 44 of a mere 20 deliveries while David Miller gave him ample support with a 27 ball 30.

Brief Scores

Rising Pune Supergiant in 163/6 in 20 overs (Ben Stokes 50, Manoj Tiwary 40*, Sandeep Sharma 2/33)

Kings XI Punjab 164/4 in 19 overs (Glenn Maxwell 44*, David Miller 30*, Imran Tahir 2/29)

Kings XI Punjab won by 6 wickets (with 6 balls remaining)