Kings XI Punjab remained in contention for a play-off berth after an aggressive run chase led by Dinesh Karthik and Shaun Marsh saw it defeat Kochi Tuskers Kerala in their IPL-IV clash at the Holkar Stadium here on Friday.
The pair added 111 for the third wicket in 9.3 overs, as Punjab, needing 179 for victory, sailed home with seven balls and six wickets to spare.
Karthik and Marsh took full advantage of a relatively small ground and some uninspired bowling, scoring 12 fours and seven sixes between them. R.P. Singh threatened to trample all over their good work when he dismissed both in the 15th over, but the damage had already been done.
Kochi, aided in no small part by 23 extras, rode on the back of Mahela Jayawardene's half-century to get to 178 in its 20 overs. The skipper, supported by Brendon Mc Cullum and Owais Shah, made 76 before he was run out off the last ball.
Punjab's wobbly start did not promise great things for later but Marsh and Karthik went after the bowling with a fury Kochi did not perhaps anticipate. Marsh began the brighter of the two, hitting Sreesanth for three fours in the sixth over.
Boundary-clearing spree
Karthik commenced his boundary-clearing spree in the ninth over, clobbering Vinay Kumar over deep-midwicket. He and Marsh took both Parameswaran and Gomez for 12 runs in their opening overs.
Punjab was now motoring along swiftly, adding 19 runs in the 12th over and 16 in the next. Karthik got to his fifty (24 balls) in that over, smiting Jadeja over ‘cow corner'. He fell for 69 attempting to hit R.P. Singh over the infield, before Marsh followed him.
Punjab needed 34 off 30 balls from that point. David Hussey and Mandeep Singh calmly took the side home.
Earlier, inserted in to bat Kochi flew out of the blocks as Jayawardene and McCullum made the most of some wayward bowling. The former, opening again after Michael Klinger was benched in favour of Owais Shah, began with greater aggression, striking Ryan Harris for successive fours in the opening over.
Punjab fielded three spinners in Bhargav Bhatt, Bipul Sharma, and Piyush Chawla but Jayawardene had little trouble facing any of them.
McCullum, until that point uncharacteristically sedate, opened his shoulders in the seventh over, carting Harris for two consecutive sixes. The Kiwi fell two overs later after the pair had plundered 93 runs off the opening 52 balls.
Pleasant six
Jayawardene carried on, bringing his 30-ball-half-century up with a pleasant six off Chawla, carving the ball over extra-cover. Jadeja's promotion up the order didn't end well, Chawla trapping him leg before in the 14th over for 17.
Brad Hodge departed soon after, bringing Shah, making his IPL-4 debut, to the wicket. His arrival signalled the end of a lean period for Kochi, the side having managed only 36 runs in the 6.1 overs that had elapsed since McCullum's dismissal.
Shah used the long handle to good effect, contributing 23 off 12 balls before a silly run-out cost him his wicket. Kochi managed to add only 13 runs thereafter, when it, as it turned out, needed many more.
Scoreboard
Kochi Tuskers Kerala: B. McCullum lbw b Bipul 32 (27b, 2x4, 2x6), M. Jayawardene (run out) 76 (52b, 8x4, 2x6), R. Jadeja lbw b Chawla 17 (18b, 1x4, 1x6), B. Hodge c Marsh b Bipul 4 (6b), O. Shah (run out) 23 (12b, 1x4, 2x6), P. Patel c Karthik b Srivastava 0 (1b), R. Gomez lbw b Harris 2 (3b), Vinay Kumar (not out) 1 (1b); Extras (lb-4, w-19): 23; Total (for seven wkts. in 20 overs): 178.
Fall of wickets: 1-93, 2-122, 3-129, 4-165, 5-165, 6-177, 7-178.
Kings XI Punjab bowling: Harris 4-0-42-1, Bhatt 4-0-36-0, Bipul 4-0-32-2, Srivastava 4-0-34-1, Chawla 4-0-30-1.
Kings XI Punjab: A. Gilchrist c Parthiv b R.P. Singh 9 (15b, 1x4), P. Valthaty b R.P. Singh 17 (10b, 1x4, 2x6), S. Marsh c & b R.P. Singh 42 (30b, 5x4, 2x6), D. Karthik c Jayawardene b R.P. Singh 69 (33b, 7x4, 5x6), D. Hussey (not out) 21 (15b, 2x4, 1x6), Mandeep (not out) 15 (10b, 1x4); Extras (lb-2, w-6): 8; Total (for four wkts. in 18.5 overs): 181.
Fall of wickets: 1-25, 2-31, 3-142, 4-145.
Kochi Tuskers bowling: R.P. Singh 4-0-25-4, Sreesanth 3.5-0-38-0, Vinay Kumar 3-0-28-0, Hodge 2-0-26-0, Parameswaran 2-0-23-0, Gomez 1-0-12-0, Jadeja 3-0-27-0.
Man-of-the-Match: Dinesh Karthik.
