After batting first and posting a huge total (190-4) through their most consistent batsmen, Deccan conspired to give it all away at the doorstep of victory. Eighty-two runs were needed by Kings XI Punjab, chasing to stay alive in the tournament, in just six overs with their frontline batsmen back in the pavilion, when David Hussey decided to step it up.
The Aussie smashed an unbeaten 65 in just 35 balls, adding 45 in 3.2 overs with Gurkeerat Singh, as Punjab stole an unlikely win from the jaws of defeat. It has to be mentioned that it was the unheralded Gurkeerat (29 n.o., 12b) who did the brunt of the scoring in the last over, bowled by Manpreet Gony, when 16 were required for victory.
Gurkeerat blazed a six and two boundaries to take Punjab home by a margin of four wickets, leaving Chargers in their usual sorry state of despair, yet again. The win leaves Punjab in seventh place, but they have three matches left - two against league leaders Delhi Daredevils and one against defending champions Chennai Super Kings.
Punjab did not begin their chase well. They were three down in the eighth over with just 56 on the board. And when Azhar Mahmood departed following a brisk cameo, it appeared to be all over for the home team. But Hussey came in, pulling T.P. Sudhindra for six and then going on a rampage against Amit Mishra, who was pulverized for 21 runs in the 15th over, as the Punjab skipper sought to meet the sky-high asking rate.
Another maximum against Sudhindra got Hussey to his fifty, and boundaries continued to flow thick and fast as first Piyush Chawla and then Gurkeerat wasted no deliveries in getting into their groove.
Earlier, Chargers’ most reliable batsmen associated to good effect as the team posted 190 after electing to bat. Shikhar Dhawan and Cameron White struck their fifth half-century each of IPL-V as they combined for 96 runs. The two came together after Parthiv Patel and Kumar Sangakkara departed early, and did not allow their relentless pace of gathering runs to slacken at any stage.
White was dropped twice (on 34 and 37) and capitalized on the reprieves to go berserk towards the end. Daniel Christian came in and threw his bat around. Christian’s late fireworks took Chargers to a total in the vicinity of 200, and they lost despite being in the driver’s seat for the most of the match.
