Glenn Maxwell was again named in Kings XI Punjab’s starting XI, and he scored an unbeaten 10 off five balls but failed to take his side KXIP to victory against Kolkata Knight Riders who prevailed by a narrow margin of two runs. He failed to score the required 14 runs to seal victory as the last over of Sunil Narine’s bowling saw only 11 runs.
Sunil Narine gave only two runs in the 18th over, and Prasidh Krishna conceded 6th in the 19th over as KXIP suffered their 6th defeat in seven matches failing to score 165 runs. KKR won by two runs in Abu Dhabi after skipper Dinesh Karthik scored 58 but was run out in the last ball and opener Shubman Gill scored 57 before he too was run out.
Graeme Swann Flabbergasted To See Glenn Maxwell Retain His Place
KXIP started well with skipper KL Rahul scoring 74 and opener Mayank Agarwal contributing with 56. They looked on course for a win after being at 115 for no loss in the 15th over after both the openers stitched a century stand. Prasidh Krishna who was playing his first match returned with figures of 3/29 and spinner Sunil Narine returned with figures of 2/28 while the other bowlers went wicketless as KXIP managed 162/5.
“I’m flabbergasted that Maxwell has retained his place,” Swann said on Star Sports after KXIP captain KL Rahul informed at the toss that there was only change in that side – Chris Jordan in place of Sheldon Cottrell.
Former Indian opener Virender Sehwag and former England batsman Kevin Pietersen too had questioned KXIP management for retaining under fire Glenn Maxwell in starting XI.
Only 22 runs were needed in 18 balls as Sunil Narine bowled an outstanding 18th over conceding only two runs which brought down the equation to 20 off 2 overs-12 balls. Prasidh Krishna then conceded six runs as the match went down the wire with 14 more runs required in the final over.
In the last ball, KXIP’s Glenn Maxwell could only hit a boundary instead of six required to tie the match and take it to Super Over as his team lost yet another close game to remain at bottom of the table.
Glenn Maxwell’s Poor Run Continues In IPL 2020 As KXIP’s Middle Order Is Fragile
In seven IPL matches so far played by him, Glenn Maxwell has scored 1, 5, 13, 11, 11*, 7 and 10* which are extremely poor numbers for someone of his reputation. Glenn Maxwell has scored only 58 runs in 7 matches at an average of 14.5 and a below par strike rate of 95.08 with a highest of only 13 in IPL 2020.
Glenn Maxwell had played 76 IPL matches where he scored 1455 runs averaging 22.38 with six fifties to his name. He had scored 552 runs in IPL 2014 in 16 matches including 4 fifties when IPL was hosted jointly by India and UAE.
Glenn Maxwell was bought by KXIP for a whopping Rs. 10.75 crore but hasn’t yet set the stage on fire. Opener Chris Gayle was due to play but was hospitalized due to food poisoning which is a cause of concern for KXIP apart from the middle order of KXIP which is fragile with Mandeep Singh, Karun Nair and Sarfaraz Khan not among runs.
Mandeep Singh has 33 runs in three matches while Karun Nair has scored 16 in four matches while Sarfaraz Khan has 33 runs in 5 matches. Prabh Simran Singh has scored only 15 runs in two matches.