HYDERABAD: Young Mandeep Singh and wily Praveen Kumar kept Kings XI Punjab in IPL-V contention as they starred in their team’s 25-run win over the simple Deccan Chargers on Tuesday. The success pulled Punjab up to 5th place on the points table, one spot below Rajasthan Royals - who also have 12 points but a better Net Run Rate.
At Uppal’s Rajiv Gandhi International sports ground, Punjab were sent in to bat by Kumar Sangakkara and rode on Man of the match Mandeep Singh responsible 48-ball 75 to post 170-5. The visiting side then scuppered Deccan’s chase by creation recurrent inroads into the batting card. captain David Hussey – Punjab’s lucky talisman – pretty much decided the game when he take out a well-set Daniel Harris and the risky Cameron White in the space of 4 deliveries of off-spin, and when Sangakkara fell in the next over to Praveen, the chase was going only one way downhill.
Praveen had earlier foxed Shikhar Dhawan with one that bent away from the left-hander, a 5overs before Parthiv Patel was bowled by Parvinder Awana. Another implosion in the lower order – after Hussey’s in two strikes - arrested Deccan’s chase on 145-8, all but irremediably reserve a basement slot for the luckless team this season. Praveen ended his quota of four overs with 2 for 15, and Hussey’s brace of scalps cost him just 2 runs.
Earlier, Mandeep’s 2nd 50of IPL-V took Punjab to 170-5, ten runs more than the 160 that Deccan captain Kumar Sangakkara had said was par for the venue. The most creative scorer of the season for Punjab, Mandeep took off a dispose preying 18 off Veer Pratap Singh in the 2nd over. Not once did the 20-year-old did not permit the run-rate to dip.
While Dhawan provided the breakthrough Chargers were look for when he castled Shaun Marsh, Punjab by then were before now going at a at ease 8-an-over. And despite a usual exit policy being experienced by batsmen at the other end, Mandeep stuck to his guns, dispatch Daniel Harris over cover to bring up his 50 in 33 balls, and then targeting Amit Mishra for a couple of more boundaries.
But the bowler who suffers most at Mandeep’s hands was seamer Veer Pratap Singh, who accepted 35 in 16 deliveries to the solid opener, who was lastly, bowled trying to slog Ashish Reddy in the 16th over. In the next over, Azhar Mahmood was run-out after a mix up with David Miller, but the South African atone for the dangerous Pakistani’s dismissal by given that Punjab the late thrust. Miller’s 18-ball 28 was laced with 3 fours and one six off Reddy in the final over of the innings.
Man Of the match
Mandeep Singh (75)
Today Match
Mum Indians v RCB (20:00 local | 14:30 GMT)
