Shreyas Iyer’s gritty half century went in vain as Kings XI Punjab defeated Delhi Daredevils by four runs at the Ferozeshah Kotla Stadium in New Delhi on Monday. With 17 runs needed from the last over, KXIP spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman kept his nerves to guide his team to their fourth consecutive win in the 2018 Indian Premier League. DD remain at the bottom of the points table. (DD vs KXIP IPL 2018 HIGHLIGHTS)
Iyer and Rahul Tewatia stitched together a solid 47-run partnership for the sixth wicket, but that wasn’t enough for the hosts as they lost the plot towards the end of the match. Rahman, Ankit Rajpoot and Andrew Tye all contributed to Punjab’s winning effort on Monday with two wickets each. (DD vs KXIP IPL 2018 SCORECARD)
Iyer played a patient knock for Delhi as wickets continued to tumble on the other end. In-form batsman Rishabh Pant was dismissed by Mujeeb Ur Rahman cheaply while Dan Christian was run out for six. However, Iyer did not lose his concentration and kept the scorecard ticking with well-placed singles and the occasional boundary. In the final over, he scored 12 runs off the first five balls but was caught in the deep off the final ball as his team fell agonisingly short of the target.
Prithvi Shaw, making his IPL debut, was off to a flying start with four boundaries in the first two overs. The U-19 World Cup winning captain slammed Rajpoot through mid-off for his first boundary and followed it up with three fours off Barinder Sran in the next over. However, the innings was cut short in the third over as he was castled by Rajpoot for 22.
Gambhir and Glenn Maxwell also did not last long as Rajpoot and Tye dismissed the dangerous duo to put KXIP in the driver’s seat. Gambhir’s homecoming did not go according to plan as he top-edged a short of the length delivery from Tye to mid-off.
Earlier, Liam Plunkett and Avesh Khan excelled on their debut as Kings XI Punjab were restricted to 143/8. Delhi, playing their first home game, made wholesale changes to their squad and it worked wonders for them as Plunkett took 3/17 while Khan produced a fiery spell to claim two crucial scalps. Karun Nair was the top-scorer for the visitors with 34 and David Miller pitched in with 26 on a disappointing day for the star-studded KXIP batting line-up.
Aaron Finch, handed the responsibility of opening with the in-form KL Rahul in Chris Gayle’s absence, was completely beaten by the pace of Khan. The partnership between Rahul and Mayank Agarwal too did not last long as Plunkett dismissed both to make his presence felt.
Source: HindustanTimes