Wriddhiman Saha hit a scintillating half-century as Kings XI Punjab managed a formidable 181/5 against Delhi Daredevils here on Saturday.
Wriddhiman Saha hit a scintillating half-century as Kings XI Punjab managed a formidable 181/5 against Delhi Daredevils here on Saturday.
Wriddhiman’s 33-ball-52 which comprised seven boundaries was well-complemented by a 44-ball-52 from Marcus Stoinis after Zaheer Khan put the home team in to bat. The Test specialist, who has had uneventful IPL since the start of the 2015 edition finally got a score of significance after 19 innings. Incidentally, it was his first 50 plus score after his century in the 2014 IPL final.
There were two significant partnerships in the KXIP innings. 58 for the third wicket between Stoinis and Wriddhiman while the Bengal stumper also enjoyed a quickfire 46-run stand in 4.1 overs with Glenn Maxwell (16).
For the Daredevils, Chris Morris (2/30 in four overs) was the most successful bowler while skipper Zaheer Khan (1/25 in three overs) had a decent outing. Mohammed Shami (1/34 in three overs) had a lean day so did the consistent leg-spinner Amit Mishra (0/37 in four overs).
The last six overs produced 75 runs for the Kings XI Punjab who posted their highest team total of season-9 so far.
Murali Vijay (25, 16 balls) started with a flurry of boundaries as he was in a mood to punish Morris, who finally got his revenge when KXIP skipper’s short arm pull was brilliantly snapped by Carlos Brathwaite standing at mid-wicket.
Hashim Amla (1) and Stoinis during their short and uneventful stay at the wicket could have got run out on three occasions. Finally, Amla was indeed run out as he failed to return to his crease bringing Wriddhiman in.
Wriddhiman started with a square cut off Mohammed Shami while Stoinis lofted Nadeem for a big straight six. The second six that the Aussie hit was off a slower delivery from Brathwaite.
The duo added 50 runs in 33 balls as the 100 run of the team came in 12.5 overs.
Scoreboard Kings XI Punjab: M. Vijay c Brathwaite b Morris 25, M. Stoinis c Samson b Zaheer 52, H. Amla (run out) 1, W. Saha c Morris b Shami 52, G. Maxwell b Morris 16, D. Miller (not out) 11, A. Patel (not out) 16. Extras: (lb5, w3) 8. Total: (for 5 wkts, in 20 overs) 181. FoW: 1-45, 2-48, 3-106, 4-152, 5-152. Bowling: Nadeem 4-0-30-0, Shami 3-0-34-1 (1w), Morris 4-0-30-2 (1w), Zaheer 3-0-25-1, Brathwaite 2-0-20-0, Mishra 4-0-37-0 (1w)
