Kings XI Punjab snapped out of a disappointing streak with a three-wicket victory off the penultimate delivery against Deccan Chargers at the De Beers Diamond Oval here on Saturday. Mahela Jayawardene directed the chase with a knock of 43 that included three sixes and scoring the bulk of the runs after walking in at 85 for three as KXIP chased 169 to win.
In a game in which fortunes swung wildly, Jaywardene played the steadying hand and the aggressor too as KXIP got home and picked up two points that will keep them in the race for a semifinal place. With 10 points, they are now fifth behind Delhi Daredevils (12), Chennai Super Kings (11), Rajasthan Royals (11) and Deccan Chargers (10).
It was a great opening game at this ground in a city that was founded when prospectors discovered diamond mines here. The number of times the scales swung from one side to the other in the span of a few minutes ensured that the fans who turned up here were treated to a delightful contest that went down to the wire.
Kings XI were also indebted to tail-enders Brett Lee and Piyush Chawla for staying calm after Jaywaderdene and Wilkinson Mota were run out in a frenetic chase. Deccan Chargers were left ruing the fact that Andrew Symonds was unable to back his explosive batting with restrictive bowling and went for 20 runs in his only over.
Gilchrist may have lost the plot a bit in picking pacemen to bowl the final two overs ahead of men who had made an impact. Rohit Sharma picked up two wickets but bowled just two overs. Venugopal Rao gave away three runs in his only over and yet Gilchrist preferred Ryan Harris and RP Singh, allowing Lee and Chawla to use their pace to land one big blow each.
Earlier, Deccan Chargers were able to post a competitive total riding on the back of an explosive unbeaten 60 by Symonds, a32 by Venugopal Rao and their 95 run stand off 9.2 overs. It looked as if KXIP would regret the inability of their bowlers to handle the pressure of the death overs but opener Sunny Sohal (30), Jayawardene and the tail-enders had different ideas.
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