Kings XI Punjab register comfortable win over Delhi Daredevils

Kings XI Punjab batsman David Miller  continued from where he left off against the Pune Warriors India as he guided his side a comprehensive five-wicket victory over the Delhi Daredevils.

David Miller was unbeaten on 34 as Kings XI Punjab
won the game by five wickets © PTI

By Prakash Govindasreenivasan

Delhi: Apr 23, 2013

Kings XI Punjab batsman David Miller  continued from where he left off against the Pune Warriors India as he guided his side a comprehensive five-wicket victory over the Delhi Daredevils.

The Punjab had a very similar start to their previous ones, with skipper Adam Gilchrist failing once again. But his departure in the first over had negligible impact on the proceedings of the game as Mandeep Singh took the attack to the Delhi bowlers .He welcomed Ashsh Nehra with three exquisite strokes to the boundary. Nehra bowled a loosener to Mandeep who caressed it through cover. Nehra followed it up with a full and wide delivery which was dispatched over cover fielder by Mandeep.  

Mandeep and Luke Pomersbach showed great urgency as they hit Irfan Pathan for 19 runs off the next over, taking the team total to 40/1 off just three overs.

Skipper Mahela Jayawardene introduced spin from both ends, through Johan Botha and Roelof van der Merwe to halt the run flow. Van der Merwe went onto give his side a breakthrough as he sent back Pomersbach to the pavilion.

Punjab lost their third wicket in the next over as a wonderful effort in the field by David Warner sent back Mandeep. Jayawardene brought in Umesh Yadav in the last over of the powerplay to attack the new batsmen in the middle and force a couple of more wickets to put Punjab on the back foot.

But defending just 120 on a good batting surface was always going to be a big ask. Manan Vohra was the fourth man to fall, but David Miller and David Hussey put on 40 runs for the fifth wicket to take the game by the scruff of its neck. Hussey was dismissed in the 16th over but it was too late for Delhi’s comeback. In the end, Punjab went past the Delhi total with 20 balls to spare to win their third consecutive match.

Read the first innings report here

Brief Scores: Delhi Daredevils 120 for 7 in 20 overs (David Warner 40, Virender Sehwag 23; Harmeet Singh 3 for 24) lost to Kings XI Punjab 121 for 5 in 17 overs (David Miller 34*, Mandeep Singh 24; Roelof van der Merwe 1 for 17) by 5 wickets.

Man of the Match: Harmeet Singh

Full Scorecard

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(Prakash Govindasreenivasan is an Editorial consultant at CricketCountry and a sports fanatic, with a soft corner for cricket. After studying journalism for two years, came the first big high in his professional life – the opportunity to interview his hero Adam Gilchrist and talking about his magnificent 149 in the 2007 World Cup final. While not following cricket, he is busy rooting for Chelsea FC)