Kings XI Punjab register their first victory in IPL 5, beat Pune Warriors by 7 wickets

on April 12, 2012 7:04 pm in Indian Premier League / no comments

Shaun Marsh and Dimitri Mascarenhas rolled out fetching performances in the 14th match of the IPL 5 against Pune warriors India and steered their team to the first victory of this year’s IPL season after their team lost first two matches.

Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) captain Adam Gilchrist won the toss and elected to bowl first. The wicket was green and fast and their fast bowlers made good use of it early on. Praveen Kumar swung the ball both ways and caused trouble for the Pune Warriors India’s (PWI) openers, Sourav Ganguly and Jesse Ryder. Parvinder Awana, playing his first IPL match, gave him fine support and bowled with verve. But the man who wrecked PWI’s batting was Mascarenhas, who grabbed the five-wicket haul, first by a KXIP bowler.

The innings started on a sedate note and thought, Ganguly hit the boundary off Praveen Kumar in the first over, PWI scored eight runs in first two overs. Ryder smashed the boundary off the first ball of the third over was run-out on the second ball. Ryder pushed the ball to covers and ran for a single but Ganguly sent him back but Ryder was half-way on the pitch and was run-out.
New batsman, Marlon Samuels didn’t look at all comfortable in the middle and he was severely tested by Awana and Kumar. After five overs, PWI were 1-28. The rot started in the sixth over as Mascarenhas came to bowl. He ripped out Ganguly on the first ball and put an end to the horrific innings of Samuels by cleaning him up with a beautiful delivery on the fourth ball of the innings. Samuels made only two runs off 11 balls.

PWI innings never gained the steam after the early jolts though Angelo Matthews whacked a couple of boundaries in the eighth overs and Robin Uthappa biffed a six in the next over off Harmeet Singh but Harmeet roared back and dismissed Matthews in the same over. Mithun Manhas looked in fine touch when he came out to bat and he chipped in with vital 31 runs off 28 balls which included a six.

After 12 overs, PWI were 4-77 and looked like they would stroll to a respectable total but their hopes were dashed by Mascarenhas who came in the 13th over and got the better of Uthappa. Uthappa flicked the ball but it didn’t have the zip to sail over the boundary and he was held out.

The spectre of Mascarenhas came back to haunt PWI again in the 18th over. He was welcomed by Manhas who bludgeoned him fir a six on the first ball but Mascarenhas got his revenge on the second ball as Manhas attempted a cheeky shot.

Mascarenhas capped off the fabulous bowling spell by snaring Rahul Sharma and Ashok Dinda was run-out in the next over as PWI were skittled for paltry total of 115.

Though the target of 116 runs was not at all imposing by any stretch of the imagination but PWI had defended the total of 129 against the mighty Mumbai Indians in their first match and the pitch with fair bit of movement and zing to assist them, one didn’t rule them out completely.

Dinda gave PWI a dream start when he knocked out the stumps of Paul Valthaty on the first ball of the innings. Shaun Marsh, who had a terrible Test series against India in tour Down Under, strode in and looked a completely different player in this format of the game. Marsh has been one of the most successful and popular cricketers in IPL and measured up to his billing.

He set the tone by hammering Ashish Nehra for a boundary through covers and followed it up with a couple of boundaries in the fifth over bowled by Samuels. Gilchrist also flayed some belligerent strokes and KXIP was cruising towards the target. Matthews broke the partnership as Gilchrist slashed him towards point but Steven Smith took a sharp catch. Mandeep Singh, a prodigious young batsman from Punjab, added ten runs and was out trying to work R Sharma towards the leg-side but the leading ensued as he played early and was caught out.

Piyush Chawla and Marsh batted with poise and Punjab cantered home in 17.4 overs. Marsh and Chawla remained unbeaten on 64 and 21 runs respectively. Marsh creamed seven boundaries and a monumental six over long-on off R Sharma. During his innings, Marsh completed 1000 runs in IPL. This is his 13th half-century in 30 matches in IPL.

PWI’s fielding was ordinary and Marsh was reprieved on two occasions by Dinda and Matthews respectively. They weren’t the simplest of chances but cricketers are expected to take these catches at this level especially when they have modest total to defend.

Brief Scorecard:

Kings XI Punjab 116 for 3 (Marsh 64*, Chawla 24*) beat Pune Warriors 115 (Manhas 31; Mascarenhas 5-25) by seven wickets

Man-of-the-Match: Dimitri Mascarenhas

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