The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Pathan blitz sees Punjab through

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Pathan blitz sees Punjab through

Bloemfontein: A brilliant all-round display from Irfan Pathan helped Kings XI Punjab beat Delhi Daredevils by six wickets in a low-scoring contest of the Indian Premier League here on Friday.

Pathan, who picked up two for 22 during the Delhi Daredevils innings, blasted three sixes in his 11-ball unbeaten 21 and along with Kumar Sangakkara (43 not out off 47 balls), guided Punjab through with five balls to spare.

This was a match Kings XI Punjab needed to win to keep its semifinal hopes alive but chasing 121 for victory it put itself in all sorts of trouble and at one point it looked as if its bowlers’ good work would come to nought.

The Punjab pace trio of Brett Lee (three for 15), S. Sreesanth (two for 20) and Pathan vindicated skipper Yuvraj Singh’s decision to field first by restricting Delhi Daredevils batsmen to 120 for nine.

With the wicket-keeping low and slow the Delhi batsmen struggled and had it not been for the 50-run partnership between Dinesh Karthik and Mithun Manhas, it would have been in even more trouble.

Top-scorer Karthik (32 off 29 balls) and Manhas (26 off 25) fell trying to clear the ropes.

Lee, who gave away seven runs in his first over, bowled a superb spell, giving away just eight in his next three and picking up three wickets.

But 121 was not an easy target as Simon Katich (20), Sunny Sohal (3) and Luke Pomersbach (9) departed with just 35 on board.

Sohal’s stump was sent cartwheeling by an Ashish Nehra beauty. A.B. de Villiers picked up a great catch at slip to remove Pomersbach off Farveez Maharoof, who finished with two for 29.

Yuvraj (18 off 31) was lucky after he was put down at slip by Gautam Gambhir off Nehra for zero. He added 53 runs for the fourth wicket with Kumar Sangakkara but perished chasing a widish delivery.

And with the run-rate mounting, it was left to Sangakkara — he hit six fours — and Pathan to finish off the job.

Daredevil captain Sehwag said after the game, “we were hoping to win the game. But still we played good cricket. (There were) not many runs on the board, that’s why we lost. The atmosphere is very good, everybody is happy.

Sehwag insisted that his side did not miss a second spinner but said a good over out of the last three in the Kings XI run chase could have tilted the match.

“I think Rajat Bhatia and (Tillakaratne) Dilshan bowled really well. If we bowled one good over, the match was over, the match was in our hands. But Irfan (Pathan) batted well at the end and he just took the match away from us.” — PTI

SCOREBOARD

Delhi Daredevils: 120 for nine in 20 overs.

Kings XI Punjab: S. Sohal b Nehra 3 (12b), S. Katich c Karthik b Maharoof 20 (10b, 2x4, 1x6), L. Pomersbach c de Villiers b Maharoof 9 (8b, 2x4), Yuvraj c Sehwag b Sangwan 18 (31b, 1x4), K. Sangakkara (not out) 43 (47b, 6x4), Irfan (not out) 21 (11b, 3x6); Extras (lb-2, w-3, nb-4): 9. Total (for four wkts. in 19.1 overs): 123.

Fall of wickets: 1-22, 2-35, 3-35, 4-88.

Delhi Daredevils bowling: Nehra 4-1-6-1, Sangwan 4-0-42-1, Maharoof 4-0-29-2, Vettori 3.1-0-15-0, Bhatia 3-0-22-0, Dilshan 1-0-7-0.

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