Match02(20Sep) — DC v Kings XI Punjab — Match Summary
DC clinches a close one.
DC Innings
Having sent DC in to bat, Kings XI made a fantastic start with MD Shami breathing fire, getting both Shaw and Hetmyer out cheaply. Shami has been such a revelation in the last 3 years since his return from injury. The man gallops in like a horse and sends down thunderbolts. With perfect seam position and machine like endurance this man has to be one of the best bowlers in the world at the moment. And a word on all the complications with his personal life too, Shami has done extremely well to not lose focus, a true mark of the man’s mental strength.
Having lost Sikhar to a runout before, DC were tottering at 23/3 after 6. In came Shreyas Iyer and Rishab Pant, both played well, Iyer more so. The way he toyed with Gowtham was a reminder that Iyer is a player of international pedigree. But with the score close to 90 odd, both departed in quick succession, the young spinner from Kings XI Bishnoi accounting for Pant. Bishnoi was a part of the u19 India setup this year, and bowled cleverly to Pant, never really spinning the ball in but sliding it out. In the end a frustrated Pant departed inside edging a ball on to his stumps. Shami the superstar came back for his final over and took Iyer out.
At this stage things were not looking very bright for DC but out of the blue Marcus Stoinis, the man from down under, played an absolute blinder of an innings. Hitting the ball particularly well on the leg side, and a few massive sixes later, ended up with 53 of just 21 balls, propelling DC to 157 in 20 overs. Stoinis was particularly hard on Jordan, smashing him for 30 in the last over.
Kings XI Innings
Kings XI had dropped Gayle for this one, so the onus was on Mayank and Rahul to give them a good start. The openers started cautiously, playing the pace trio of Mohit Sharma, Rabada, and Nortje well, until suddenly Mohit got Rahul out with an incutter.
After this, came Ashwin’s special appearance, getting both Karun Nair and Nicholas Pooran out in the same over before hurting himself while taking a dive, getting himself out for the rest of the game. The way Ashwin set up Pooran was delectable, so here’s hoping he makes a quick recovery and takes the field again soon. Kings XI continued to falter and were 55/5 at one point. I think Mandeep Singh needs to be a part of this playing side, and most probably Sarfaraz will be the one giving way.
Like in the DC innings, there was some sting left in the Kings XI innings as well. Mayank Agarwal stepped up to play the innings of his life, scoring 89 off 60 balls, and taking Kings XI within 1 run of victory. At this point, scores were tied, 1 run was needed in 2 balls, with Mayank facing Stoinis. But for that last glory shot, Kings XI had won, but instead, Agarwal was caught out and so was Jordan on the next ball, ‘Stunning Stoinis’ taking us to IPL2020’s first super over.
SUPER OVER!!!
It’s the beauty of IPL, that right in the second game were the fans treated to a super over, you can’t script this stuff.
Kings XI seemed to have missed a trick by not sending in Mayank. Pooran, Rahul both went cheaply. playing 3 balls for 2 runs off a charged up Rabada. A target of three was too meager even for the superstar Shami. And Pant took his team home with balls to spare.
To me the DC batsmen looked like they were in lockdown, sluggish and dragging their feet etc, but I think they will do a better job in the games to come. DC looks like a team geared to compete hard this year.
The same can’t be said about Kings XI though, it took them a super human effort from one of their players to even get to a super over. And this with Ashwin bowling only 1 off his allotted 4. I think more questions need to be asked off the Kings think tank as well, why was Mujeeb not playing? Why was Mandeep not playing? When is Gayle starting? And most importantly why did Mayank not come out to bat in the super over?? This question will keep on haunting the Kings XI fans.
Onto the next one.
