Before the final Oppo Champions League T20 group B match against Cope Cobras on Sunday, the Kings XI Punjab fielding coach R. Sridhar had said that he would like to see his side maintain its winning run despite having confirmed a spot in the semifinals.
His charges certainly didn’t let him down as KXIP claimed a seven-wicket win at the PCA Stadium here. Chasing 136, the host faced little resistance from a side that had already been knocked out of the competition.
Virender Sehwag and Manan Vohra once again provided a respectable start. Once a stable opening partnership had been secured, KXIP had the platform for a comfortable win. Sehwag and Vohra departed but Glenn Maxwell arrived to delight the crowd with a couple of sixes over midwicket.
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Wriddhiman Saha was a reliable presence at the other end and he hit boundaries occasionally to quicken KXIP’s march towards victory. The win arrived when David Miller punched towards midwicket for a four.
The way Cobras conceded the contest was stunning. On their jerseys, the South African players sported the number (466/64) Nelson Mandela was assigned when he was imprisoned on Robben Island in 1964. Sadly, nobody would seek inspiration from the Cobras’ performance here.
The beginning of the match, however, was starkly different.
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A blistering start had seemingly set Cobras towards a big total. Hashim Amla was in special touch. The opener rolled his wrists to hit Parvinder Awana for a six over extra cover before unleashing a withering attack on Thisara Perera. Five consecutive fours in the fifth over took the Cobras to 58 for no loss.
Another attempted six towards extra cover led to Amla being caught, but the Cobras’ progress thereafter remained steady. Richard Levi’s presence ensured the control wasn’t relinquished but once Maxwell dismissed him, the Cobras crumbled rapidly.
The last seven wickets fell for 18 runs in 25 balls. None of the batsmen below the top five could even cross five runs.
The final six wickets were shared by Anureet Singh and Axar Patel.
The former’s impeccable yorker to Stiaan van Zyl was memorable.