You always need special effort to halt an in-form team and the Kings XI Punjab team knew it from the beginning when they locked horns against the Rajasthan Royals at the Sardar Patel Stadium on Tuesday evening.
After having lost the momentum with the ball, the Kings came back strongly to grab the opportunity with the bat. Much to the surprise, the Kings tied the match and, eventually, won the game in the Super Over. It was primarily possible because of Shaun Marsh’s superlative effort with the bat.
In the ninth over of their chase when the Kings lost Glenn Maxwell, they were reduced to 59 at the loss of three wickets. But from there, both Marsh and David Miller sent the Royals on a leather hunt.
Mind you, Marsh was playing this match in place of regular captain George Bailey’s absence due to a shoulder injury. In fact, the Australian southpaw played two crucial innings in this match to help the Kings to win their second match of this year’s IPL.
First Marsh made 64 off 40 balls and then struck three successive fours in the Super Over to take this team to a commanding position. This was a kind of performance, which is nothing but a confidence building measure.
If a team win a match from losing position, there is nothing more satisfying than that. Australia’s tearaway fast bowler Mitchell Johnson too played a part in the one-over eliminator to seal a win in favour of this team.
For the Royals, it was a heart-break after Ajinkya Rahane produced yet another sparkling knock. He was emerging to be the best batsman in the completion in terms of getting those runs at the top of the order consistently for his team.
Their skipper Shane Watson too played a good knock, but was bowled out off Johnson in the Super Over, that too in the first ball. For now, the Kings can bask in the glory after an astonishing win before their next match against the Chennai Super Kings. Before that, the Royals will have to get ready to take on the Royals Challengers on Friday again in Ahmedabad.
