It was one those days when everything went right for the Kings XI Punjab on the field. They were blistering with the bat, athletic on the field and spot on with their bowling at the PCA Stadium in Mohali against the Northern Knights.
The Kings thrashed the Knights by a massive 120-run difference on Friday to reach the semifinals of the Champions League T20, with one game to spare in the group competition, while the kiwi side is virtually out of the tournament, after their second successive loss.
During the toss, Kings XI skipper George Bailey took a jibe on the Knights captain Daniel Flynn on how his team faltered in the last game while chasing. And, it happened again with the Knights as they crumbled like a cookie while chasing a mammoth total.
The Indian Premier League (IPL) finalists gave a 216 runs target to the Flynn-led side and they never looked like chasing it and were bundled for a mere 95 in 15.2 overs. They, however, tried to put a fight with a 48-run second wicket stand between Kane Williamson and Anton Devcich but as they fell the kiwi resistance also ended.
Skipper Bailey adjudged the conditions perfectly, unlike Flynn, as there was no dew whatsoever and the ball was turning and gripping on the Mohali deck. The Australian deployed the spinners from both ends and the Knights looked completely clueless against the turning balls.
The Knights failed to read both Akshar Patel and Karanveer Singh as both spinners ripped through the kiwi batting line up. Karanveer, in particular, was the wrecker-in-chief and finished with four wickets, Patel took two, Anureet Singh and Thisara Perera chipped in with one wicket each.
Punjab was brilliant on the field as well and made most of the opportunities that came their way and never eased pressure, despite having a huge total on the board. Glenn Maxwell and Wriddhiman Saha displayed brilliant fielding and did one run out each.
Earlier, put into bat, the Kings XI batsmen did mayhem in Mohali and thrashed the Knights all over the park. Openers Manan Vohra and Virender Sehwag provided a lightning start to the IPL finalists and stitched a 102-run partnership.
Vohra (32-ball 65) was in Midas touch, while Sehwag played a well compiled innings and scored a 37-ball 52. The Knights pulled back things in the middle by taking few quick wickets and it looked that they will restrict the Kings under 200, but the storm was yet to arrive.
The under-capacity crowd at the stadium left disappointed when Sehwag and Glenn Maxwell (7) were dismissed in a space of seven runs but David Millers put the smiles back on home team’s fans. The South African made an unbeaten 18-ball 40 and helped his team cross 200 runs mark and reach 215 in 20 overs.
Miller’s inning was a treat to watch as he hit five four and one massive 98m six over mid-on, which just failed to beat the 101m record set by the Chennai Super Kings skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni earlier in the tournament.
Medium pacer Scott Kuggeleijn and leg-spinner Ish Sodhi picked two wickets each, while Scott Styris took one wicket for the Knights.
