IPL 2018: Match 22, DD vs KXIP, Review- Punjab soar from the slump to demolish the Daredevils

On the eve of the game, Kings XI Punjab were deemed to be the firm favourites to win this contest against the Delhi Daredevils at the Feroz Shah Kotla in New Delhi. It is understandable, bearing in mind their respective campaigns thus far in the eleventh edition of the Indian Premier League. Ravichandran Ashwin has been unpredictable and this time, he sprang a surprise by leaving out Chris Gayle.

The match eventually went right down to the wire as both teams fought tooth and nail to overpower each other. The game wasn’t a high-scoring one by any means, but they kept the audience on the edge of their seats. After being bowled out for a modest score, the Punjab bowlers strangled Delhi and brushed aside their opponents by a slender margin of four runs and stormed to the top of the table.

Plunkett & Co restrict Kings

The omission of Chris Gayle meant that Aaron Finch was set to open the batting with KL Rahul. However, the move failed as Finch succumbed to yet another low score, being dismissed by Avesh Khan, who made his debut for the Daredevils. Mayank Agarwal joined Rahul for the second wicket and the duo compiled a stand of 36 runs off 18 balls, which made amends for the early wicket of Finch.

Liam Plunkett, who initially was drafted in place of Kagiso Rabada, had other ideas and nipped out the big fish of Rahul who looked ominous for yet another big score. In his second over, Agarwal became Plunkett’s second victim and all of a sudden Punjab had two brand new batsman in Yuvraj Singh and Karun Nair at the pitch. Yuvraj looked rusty yet again and never came to terms with the conditions.

The short-delivery has always been a concern for the left-hander and he perished to the same delivery by Avesh Khan. Karun Nair, who has chipped in with useful knocks in the middle order, failed to provide the impetus to the innings and became Plunkett’s third scalp. David Miller threatened with a couple of boundaries but got out at a time when the Kings required some lusty blows from his willow.

Things never quite fell into place thereafter for the visitors and they stumbled along to end at 143 runs. Trent Boult cleaned up Ashwin and Andrew Tye in quick succession and conceded only four runs in the final over. Plunkett was arguably the pick of the bowlers and was appropriately supported by the likes of Boult, Avesh and Daniel Christian.

Punjab roar to the top of the table

The target was definitely not a daunting one for the Daredevils, but bearing in mind the nature of the strip and the form of the home team, Punjab were still in with a chance. Prithvi Shaw became the youngest cricketer to open the batting in the IPL when he strode on the ground with Gautam Gambhir. The occasion hardly ruffled Shaw and he played a fearless brand of cricket.

The U-19 World Cup-winning Indian skipper scorched 22 runs off 10 balls, which included four boundaries. However, Ankit Rajpoot stemmed the run-flow as he castled Shaw courtesy of an inside-edge. Maxwell spanked a couple to the boundary, but fell prey to Rajpoot. To add to Delhi’s woes, Andrew Tye nipped out Gambhir after which Mujeeb Ur Rahman foxed Rishabh Pant and went through his defence.

On the other hand, Shreyas Iyer looked determined to play a calculative knock. Nevertheless, Daniel Christian ran himself out and all of a sudden, Delhi lost half their side with quite some runs remaining to be scored. Iyer survived a massive scare when he was given out and the decision of a potential outside-edge was reversed in the 14th over, much to the relief of the home team.

Rahul Tewatia acted as a perfect foil for Iyer and score 24 hard-earned runs. Liam Plunkett perished for a golden duck leaving Delhi with 20 runs off 10 balls. In the last over with 17 runs were required, Mujeeb Ur Rahman was entrusted to win the game.  Iyer held his nerves and spanked a couple of boundaries, but the Afghan off-break bowler dismissed Iyer to slap Delhi with their five drubbing in six attempts.

Brief Scores

Kings XI Punjab: 143/8 in 20 overs; Karun Nair 34, David Miller 26; Liam Plunkett 3/17, Trent Boult 2/21

Delhi Daredevils: 139/8 in 20 overs; Shreyas Iyer 57, Rahul Tewatia 24; Mujeeb Ur Rahman 2/25, Andrew Tye 2/25

Kings XI Punjab beat Delhi Daredevils by four runs  

Player of the Match:  Ankit Rajpoot