Little known Paul Valthaty became the latest player to use the Indian Premier League platform as a vehicle to move from obscurity to instant fame and accolades.
The 27-year-old from Mumbai became the most unexpected hero of Kings XI Punjab's memorable six-wicket victory over defending champion Chennai Super Kings as he led the chase of 189 runs with a strokeful, unbeaten 120 on a batting beauty at the Punjab Cricket Stadium here on Wednesday.
Interestingly, the former Rajasthan Royals player had only 264 runs to show in 12 previous T20 matches. On Wednesday, Valthaty showcased what he was capable of, as he unleashed strokes resulting in two sixes and a record 19 boundaries, during his 63-ball savagery.
Breaking a jinx
The first victory for Punjab in two games also broke its jinx of losing the first two games in every edition of the competition. In fact, it was Punjab's only second victory in eight encounters against the Chennai side. Its previous win had come in that memorable finish after the ‘Super Over' following a ‘tie' last year.
In fact, Wednesday's win also helped Punjab erase the bitter memories of its last encounter at Dharamsala when Chennai chased down 192 with a late blitz.
Chasing the highest target of this edition of the IPL, Valthaty and skipper Adam Gilchrist were quickly off the starting blocks and raised 61 runs in the first six overs before the latter fell.
Even as Valthaty continued to treat the bowling with disdain, Chennai managed to stay in the match by getting rid of Shaun Marsh and later, the duo of Sunny Singh and Abhishek Nayar off successive deliveries.
Valthaty, who brought Punjab within a stroke of victory before Tamil Nadu Ranji captain Dinesh Karthik finished the job with a six, admitted that the match-winning effort was “yet to sink in” after his eye-catching, attention-grabbing knock was hailed by one and all.
Dhoni lauds knock
Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who rued three dropped catches and thought his bowlers could have bowled with more discipline, was all praise for the man he watched at work from close.
“He went till the end and did not leave it for others. That's important.” These words truly summed up what the Super Kings' skipper thought of Valthaty's knock on this day.
Valthaty called the pitch, a “belter” and played his strokes all around. He drove and cut with aplomb. What he lacked in style, he made up with an effective mix of power and timing. He started by attacking the spin of R. Ashwin and saved the best for the faster variety from Albie Morkel.
The partisan crowd at the Punjab Cricket Stadium enjoyed this high-scoring battle of the “Kings” where Valthaty's knock and host's rare victory combined to put into shade Super Kings' brilliant counterattack after the early setbacks.
Never before had a team scored in excess of 180 runs spread over just two completed partnerships.
This was made possible because Chennai understood the importance of keeping wickets and rotating strikes, without missing on the big-hitting opportunities.
If M. Vijay and S. Badrinath lifted the team from an embarrassing zero for two and put on a record 124 runs, Dhoni stepped up the momentum by smashing 22 runs off Praveen Kumar, the man who had removed S. Anirudha and Uttar Pradesh teammate Suresh Raina at the start.
Good stand
Vijay, the hard-hitting opener, did not take much time to move into top gear. His playing partner of 10 years, Badrinath played second fiddle to perfection, without compromising on his stylish stroke-play.
Understandably, the duo was slow to start with and accelerated, ironically, at the end of the sixth over. Each of the overs that followed, except the final one, fetched a minimum of eight runs.
Vijay was lucky to miss a possible century after he was stumped. Thereafter, Dhoni took over and ensured a healthy looking 188. However, as it turned out, the season's highest did not prove enough.
