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Kings XI prevails in exciting encounter

Brett Lee takes the team home with a delivery to spare

— Photo: AP

THE ARCHITECT: Mahela Jayawardene fashioned Kings XI’s win with an aggressive 43 which contained three sixes.

KIMBERLEY: Brett Lee hit the winning run, as Kings XI Punjab recorded a thrilling three-wicket victory over Deccan Chargers in their Indian Premier League encounter here on Saturday.

Needing one run from the last two balls to overhaul Chargers’ total of 168 for five, Lee’s strike off Rudra Pratap Singh sparked celebrations in the Kings XI camp at the De Beers Diamond Oval here. The Australian bowler, playing in his first IPL game of the season, was unbeaten on 14 off 10 balls, including a six.

Earlier, Lee was impressive with the new ball, bowling at good pace and length, to claim one for 24 from four overs.

Vital knock

Mahela Jayawardene set the foundation for Kings XI with a solid innings of 43 to earn the Man-of-the-Match award. He hit one boundary and three sixes in 28 balls before getting run out after pulling a hamstring in the 18th over. At that stage, Kings XI needed 20 runs off 13 balls.

Kings XI’s chase, which began with a stand of 42 between openers Sunny Sohal (30 off 17 balls) and Simon Katich (9), suffered a huge setback when off-spinner Rohit Sharma dismissed both in one over. Sohal top-edged to Venugopala Rao at mid-off and two balls later, the same combination got rid of Katich.

Kumar Sangakkara (25, 18b, 1x4, 1x6) and Yuvraj Singh (18, 14b, 1x4, 1x6) put on 43 for the third wicket to revive the chase, but fast bowler Shoaib Ahmed removed both batsmen in the 10th over.

Sangakkara was castled while attempting a reverse sweep, while Yuvraj top-edged a pull to wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist.

Irfan Pathan (10) added 30 with Jayawardene before losing his wicket to Tirumalsetti Suman. Wilkin Mota was run out after a mix-up with Jayawardene, but Lee and Piyush Chawla (eight not out) held their nerve to see the side home.

Symonds on song

Earlier, Chargers reached a respectable score of 168, thanks to Andrew Symonds’s unbeaten 60. The Australian all-rounder, also playing his first IPL match of the season, hit two boundaries and four sixes in 36 balls. Symonds added 95 for the fifth wicket with Venugopala, who made 32 off 25 deliveries (1x4, 2x6).

Symonds revived Chargers’ innings after a period of dominance by the Kings XI bowlers and alongwith Venugopala took Chargers to a fighting total, but Kings XI had the last laugh. — AP

SCOREBOARD

Deccan Chargers: A. Gilchrist c Powar b Sreesanth 20 (16b, 3x4, 1x6), H. Gibbs c Jayawardene b Chawla 13 (13b, 1x4), T. Suman c Jayawardene b Mota 27 (17b, 1x4, 2x6), Rohit c Sangakkara b Lee 9 (15b, 1x4), A. Symonds (not out) 60 (36b, 2x4, 4x6), Venugopala Rao (run out) 32 (25b, 1x4, 2x6); Extras (lb-2, w-3, nb-2): 7; Total (for five wkts. in 20 overs): 168.

Fall of wickets: 1-31, 2-54, 3-70, 4-73, 5-168.

Kings XI Punjab bowling: Lee 4-0-24-1, Pathan 4-0-42-0, Sreesanth 4-0-37-1, Chawla 3-0-26-1, Mota 4-0-26-1, Yuvraj 1-0-11-0.

Kings XI Punjab: S. Sohal c Venugopala b Rohit 30 (17b, 4x4, 1x6), S. Katich c Venugopala b Rohit 9 (11b, 1x4), K. Sangakkara b Shoaib 25 (18b, 1x4, 1x6), Yuvraj c Gilchrist b Shoaib 18 (14b, 1x4, 1x6), M. Jayawardene (run out) 43 (28b, 1x4, 3x6), Irfan c Shoaib b Suman 10 (12b, 1x4), W. Mota (run out) 3 (4b), B. Lee (not out) 14 (10b, 1x6), P. Chawla (not out) 8 (6b, 1x4); Extras (lb-6, w-3): 9; Total (for seven wkts. in 19.5 overs): 169.

Fall of wickets: 1-41, 2-42, 3-85, 4-86, 5-116, 6-127, 7-149.

Deccan Chargers bowling: Harris 3-0-29-0, R.P. Singh 2.5-0-26-0, Shoaib 3-0-25-2, Rohit 2-0-12-2, Venugopala 1-0-3-0, Suman 3-0-24-1, Symonds 1-0-20-0, Ojha 4-0-24-0.

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