Kings XI Punjab Hand Crushing Defeat to Rising Pune Supergiants

By: Tarish Bhatt

No matter how much you score, it is important to take wickets in the powerplay. And, second time, in as many games, Pune failed to do that in the powerplay.

They did chip-in with a few towards the end, but it proved to be too late, as Kings XI Punjab cruised to a handsome six-wicket win over them in Mohali.

Murugan Ashwin picked three wickets in his final spell, including the wicket of Murali Vijay, but his effort went in vain as the hosts still won the match with eight balls to spare.

There was something for the spinners in Mohali, and the Kings showed that when they slowed Pune down earlier, but failing to make early breakthroughs, cost the Supergiants dearly.

Chasing 153 to win, openers Murali Vijay and Manan Vohra laid a solid foundation, strong enough to ensure that even some quick blows won’t rattle them.

And, it happened exactly like that, as despite three quick wickets, Glenn Maxwell managed to seal the game with some mighty blows towards the end.

Earlier, seamer Mohit Sharma showed brilliant performance with the ball, and knotted the Supergiants in the concluding stages by taking three wickets.

He bowled a fantastic last over, dismissing Faf du Plessis and MS Dhoni, to restrict, at one time cruising, Pune to clearly an under-par total.

Du Plessis, meanwhile, scored a fantastic half-century, his second in as many games, but he got no support, as the wickets kept falling from the other end.

Steve Smith did manage to score a 30, but his partnership with du Plessis never looked convincing, as they failed to up the ante when needed.