KOLKATA: Medium pacer Harmeet Singh kept his composure as he bowled a tight final over helping Kings XI Punjab record a thrilling two-run win over Kolkata Knight Riders in an IPL match on Sunday.
Chasing a target of 135 on a tricky Eden pitch, KKR needed nine runs off the final over but medium pacer Harmeet gave away only six runs. Debabrata Das, who played a lovely cameo (35, 23 balls, 3×4, 1×6), failed to hit a boundary off the final delivery as home team ended on 132 as Kings XI won their second match of the tourney.
Debabrata, who played for KKR in first edition of IPL before being dumped during three subsequent seasons almost took his team to victory with some lusty blows after they were down in the dumps at 88 for six.
Along with Harmeet, India seamer Praveen Kumar bowled a brilliant penultimate over where only four runs were scored. Also spinners Piyush Chawla (3/18) and Bhargav Bhatt (2/22) should be lauded for sharing five wickets for only 42 runs in the eight overs bowled by them.
On a track, where the spinners are getting fair amount of assistance, a target of 135 was always going to be difficult. While Jacques Kallis (1) was gone early — thanks to a brilliant catch by Paras Dogra, skipper Gautam Gambhir hit a flurry of boundaries on his way 22 before he offered a tame return catch to Dimitri Mascarenhas.
Rahane’s ton powers Rajasthan to big win
At 30 for two, in-form Bisla (27, 25 balls, 1×4, 1×6) and Manoj Tiwary (20, 27 balls, 1×4) added 43 runs for the third wicket and it looked KKR will coast home easily. However left-arm spinner Bhargav Bhatt angled one into Tiwary who was caught plumb in-front as KKR were 73 for three. Within another six runs, it was Bisla who played all over a Piyush Chawla delivery to be bowled.
Pathan tried a paddle sweep but the ball jumped off his pad straps to clip the bails. KKR went further down in the dumps as Shakib Al Hasan lobbed an easy catch to Gilchrist off Chawla’s bowling as home team stuttered at 88 for six.
In the second match, Ajinkya Rahane stole the limelight, smashing the first century of Indian Premier League season five to power Rajasthan Royals to a comfortable 59-run win over Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Rahane produced a scintillating 103-run unbeaten knock off just 60 balls and together with Owais Shah (60) stitched 121 runs off 8.2 overs for the second wicket to guide Rajasthan to a mammoth 195 for two after opting to bat. (PTI)