Published: Apr 18, 2014, 07:03 PM (IST)
Edited: Apr 18, 2014, 07:03 PM (IST)
Apr 18, 2014
Chasing Chennai Super Kings‘ mammoth 205 for four, Kings XI Punjab are placed at 156 for the loss of three wickets at the end of the 15th over in this crucial IPL 2014 encounter at Abu Dhabi.
They are moving brilliantly towards a magnificent chase, as Glenn Maxwell and David Miller are hitting the Chennai bowlers out of the park in all directions. Maxwell, in particular, has been stupendous so far. He first brought up his fifty in just 25 balls, and then took 22 runs off Pawan Negi in the 13th over. Miller is ably complementing him from the other end by rotating the strike and dispatching the loose balls.
Both the batsmen have also brought up their 100-run partnership. They reached that landmark in just 58 balls.
Maxwell has been the attacker for Punjab so far, scoring the bulk of the boundaries, but MS Dhoni will be well aware of Miller’s pyrotechnic abilities as well. The CSK captain will be hoping for one wicket here to open the floodgates towards the Punjab tail.
Ashish Nehra’s drop of Maxwell in the 10th over must be frustating Dhoni. And so would be Miller’s missed chance in that very over. As a matter of fact, Maxwell was dropped again in the 14th over. We had seen what McCullum did to Punjab’s bowling after he was dropped, and the Australian Maxwell seems to be just returning the favour here.
Earlier in the innings, opening the batting for Punjab, Virender Sehwag and Cheteshwar Pujara started off cautiously against Ashish Nehra in the first over, accruing just three runs. Bespectacled Sehwag opened up his arms from the second over. He hit his first four of IPL 7 against Mohit Sharma, and then followed that up with his second in the same over. Luckily, he was dropped by Dwayne Bravo in the same over.
Complementing Sehwag, Pujara too opened up and hit Nehra for a couple of boundaries in the third over. Sehwag followed him by hitting two more in the same over before losing his leg stump to Nehra.
Sehwag’s dismissal brought Maxwell to the crease, who has made his intentions very clear already.
Ravichandran Ashwin, introduced in the fourth over, picked up the wicket of Pujara in his very first over. Punjab will be hoping for some real fireworks from Maxwell here. But it was a surprise to see Akshar Patel coming in at No 4 before George Bailey or David Miller.
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