In the match number 36 of the tenth edition of Indian Premier League (IPL), while chasing down the target of just 68, New Zealand recruit Martin Guptill and Hashim Amla gave a rollicking start to the Kings XI Punjab before clinching the match inside eight overs by ten wickets on Sunday evening against Delhi Daredevils.
Guptill, who registered his maiden IPL fifty remained unbeaten on 50 off 27 balls, as his innings was laced with six boundaries and three sixes.
The Auckland-born batsman Guptill was equally supported by Hashim Amla, who remained unbeaten on 20-ball 16.
With this win, Kings XI jumped to the fifth position on IPL points table with eight points in nine matches, as they have further improved their net run-rate; +0.228. Interestingly, the Mohali-based outfit has now registered four wins in Mohali out of five matches they’ve played against Daredevils.
Earlier, after winning the toss, Kings XI Punjab skipper Glenn Maxwell opted to field first in their second game of this season against Daredevils which proved handy for the hosts following the worst batting show from Daredevils, who missed out on skipper Zaheer Khan owing to a hamstring injury.
The visitors collapsed following the probing line and length which was unleashed by hosts on a wicket which had bounce on an offer for the fast bowlers.
While not recovering from the early hiccups, Daredevils side was bundled out for 67 in 17.1 overs, as they registered the second-lowest team total during the ongoing season and third joint lowest total overall in the IPL history.
Sensational with the ball, Sandeep Sharma was the pick of the bowlers for Kings XI, who bagged four wickets while giving away 20 runs in four overs. Varon Aaron picked two wickets while conceding just three runs in his four overs before Axar Patel claimed two. Mohit Sharma and Glenn Maxwell bagged one each.
Instrumental with the ball, Sandeep Sharma has shown brilliant athleticism in the field while completing a sensational one-handed catch to his left, on his follow-through – to dismiss Shreyas Iyer, who scored six off 7 balls and further saw visitors reeling at 22 for three inside six overs.
Kagiso Rabada was caught by Shaun Marsh on the bowling of Sandeep Sharma. The South African scored 20-ball 11. In 17th over, Mohammad Shami was caught by Sandeep Sharma on the bowling of Varon Aaron.
Chris Morris was caught and bowled by left-arm orthodox spinner Axar Patel on 2 off five balls. Corey Anderson, who knitted the crucial partnership of 26 for the seventh wicket alongside Rabada was broken by Varon Aaron, who cleaned up Anderson on 18 off 25 balls.
The last wicket came in the form of Shahbaz Nadeem, who was caught and bowled by the pacer Mohit Sharma.
Rolling over his arm, Glenn Maxwell picked up Rishabh Pant when the wicket-keeper batsman was caught in front of the stumps. Delhi Daredevils lost wickets in quick succession, as Sanju Samson and Sam Billing returned to the pavilion inside first three overs at the score of seven.
The visitors lost another three wickets inside nine overs when their score was 33 in 8.4 overs. Sam Billings, who was inducted into the side, went without scoring after wicket-keeper batsman Wriddhiman Saha completed the catch on the bowling of Sandeep Sharma.
Sanju Samson who has been the highest scorer for Daredevils went cheaply after scoring 5 off 14 balls after he was undone by Sandeep Sharma when leading edge was taken by Mohit Sharma at the mid-off region.