Shaun Marsh shines for Kings XI Punjab

In Match 19 of the DLF Indian Premier League (IPL), the Kings XI Punjab beat the Deccan Chargers by 7 wickets to register their third win of the Twenty20 tournament.

Yuvraj Singh, captain of Kings XI Punjab, won the toss and decided to ask his opposite number VVS Laxman of the Deccan Chargers to bat.

Adam Gilchrist and Laxman opened the innings for the Deccan Chargers. From the onset Laxman looked the better of the two batsmen and this was reinstated after Gilchrist was bowled by Irfan Pathan scoring a mere 6 runs. Herschelle Gibbs, making his debut in the IPL, not trouble the scorers either before heading back to the pavilion for 7.

But at the fall of the second wicket, Rohit Sharma, the man who has been the most consistent batsman for the Deccan Chargers, came in and showed some resolve. Laxman and Sharma looked set for big scores before the former lost his wicket falling short of what would have been a fine half-century by 2 runs.

They missed the experience of Andrew Symonds in the middle order as after Laxman’s departure, the Chargers lost wickets at regular intervals and it was mainly due to Rohit Sharma’s unbeaten knock of a 42-ball 76 that they reached a respectable score of 164/8 in their 20 overs.

The Kings XI Punjab started their innings cautiously, scoring runs but making sure they kept wickets in hand all the same. In a surprise move, Shaun Marsh, playing his first match of the IPL, opened the innings with Ramnaresh Sarwan adding 41 for the first wicket before Sarwan was run out in the sixth over.

Kumar Sangakkara and Yuvraj Singh both came and went cheaply and before long the asking rate for Kings XI Punjab was beginning to climb. It even reached 12 runs per over at one point. However, debutant Shaun Marsh who played with extreme poise was partnered by the experienced Mahela Jayawardena and the two took the side home with 7 balls to spare.

Marsh and Jayawardena were involved in an unbeaten partnership of 81 runs coming off just 8 overs. Jayawardena ended up with 45 runs at a strike rate of close to 200.

However the pick of the Punjab batsman was undoubtedly Shaun Marsh for his mature innings of 84 runs from 62 balls. He held the Punjab innings together and while he was at the crease, the target of 164 always looked within reach. He was rightly adjudicated the Player of the Match.

Piyush Chawla was the pick of the Punjab bowlers picking up 3 wickets for 28 runs from his 4 overs.

The Hyderabad bowlers had their figures spoilt thanks to some last minute hitting by Marsh and Jayawardena, but the pick of them was Nuwan Zoysa who registered a single wicket for 32 runs from his 4 overs.

Match 20 of the IPL will see two of the strongest teams in the tournament take on each other as the Chennai Super Kings go head-to-head against the Delhi Daredevils at the MA Chidambaram Stadium at Chennai.