Kings XI defend 188 for first away win

RAJKOT: Kings XI Punjab won the critical moments of a T20, with both bat and ball, to record only the 11th instance of a team successfully defending a total in 26 matches this IPL here on Sunday.

They got to 188 with Hashim Amla following up a century in his previous game with a 40-ball 65. Then Axar Patel smashed 34 off 17 balls in the death, complemented that by picking up two crucial wickets and eventually made sure Kings XI had their first win after batting first in this IPL.

Dinesh Karthik struck a gritty, unbeaten 58 but it was in vain as the Kings XI bowlers had solid plans. KC Cariappa concentrated on bowling wicket to wicket and spinning the ball away from both left and right-handers. Mohit Sharma’s back-of-the-hand slower balls found purchase on a pitch that got slower as the match progressed. And together they picked up three wickets in eight overs, giving away only 49 runs.

Amla laid down anchor, but was still scoring at a strike-rate in excess of 150. Shaun Marsh was brash in his approach, looking to find the boundary with almost every ball. Kings XI’s desire for a massive total was evident in their high-risk batting in the middle overs. Glenn Maxwell chose to sweep and reverse sweep Ravindra Jadeja — he was lbw after missing a reverse lap — soon after Amla’s wicket.

Axar was promoted ahead of Wriddhiman Saha in the closing overs. Sticking to his strengths, he was particularly productive in the arc between long-off and midwicket. He smashed Dwayne Smith for two sixes and a four in the penultimate over to turn his 18 off 13 balls into 34 off 17.

Chases in excess of 180 are hard enough without losing early wickets and Lions lost some playing pretty sloppily. Brendon McCullum was lbw to a full toss from Sandeep Sharma. Then, Suresh Raina pulled Axar to deep midwicket. He didn’t go through with his stroke nor did he keep it down. Dwayne Smith, too, mis-timed a lofted drive to long-off.