By Suneer Chowdhary
A second wicket century stand between Shaun Marsh and Paul Valthaty helped the Kings XI Punjab post 170 for six after being put in to bat by the Delhi Daredevils.
Published: May 15, 2011, 06:00 PM (IST)
Edited: May 15, 2011, 06:00 PM (IST)
Punjab batsman Paul Valthaty in action during their IPL match against Delhi © AFP
By Suneer Chowdhary
Dharamsala: May 15, 2011
A second wicket century stand between Shaun Marsh and Paul Valthaty helped the Kings XI Punjab post 170 for six after being put in to bat by the Delhi Daredevils. Valthaty edged past Chris Gayle as the top run-scorer in the tournament in the process as the first IPL game the HPCA Stadium in Dharmasala this year saw a flurry of boundaries and sixes during the middle overs.
Adam Gilchrist survived a run-out chance early but lasted only an over more before holing out off Morne Morkel to Dave Warner at mid-on.
Valthaty, who had flattered to deceive in the games following the century and the fifth that he had got earlier, got a move on in the fifth over with a couple of hits to the fence off Varun Aaron. Then, he took a liking for Aavishkar Salvi, hitting him for a four over point in his first over and pulling him for a six in the next. This second shot should have probably ended up in the hands of the fielder, but a misjudgement from Aaron saw him come too much in front from fine-leg.
Marsh also kept rotating the strike and picking the odd boundary as Punjab went into the strategic time-out on 64 for one at the end of nine.
Interestingly, it was after the time-out that the pair begun to really cut loose. There were six runs that came off Aaron’s return over but it was captain James Hopes who was targeted by Valthaty in the next. Hopes was forehand-pulled by Valthaty for a couple of sixes between the mid-wicket to long-on area, sandwiching a boundary that brought up the batsman’s fifty.
Another good over from Aaron followed before the first from a spinner went for 25. Marsh swept the first ball he faced from S Sriram over the short boundary before lofting another over the bowler’s head for a six and sweeping a four and a six off the last two balls.
Morkel was introduced to get the side a breakthrough but conceded eight runs and at 123 for one in 14 overs, Punjab looked in a position to launch themselves into the realms of the improbable.
Instead, Irfan Pathan dismissals of both the set batsmen off successive overs stung the side a lot. Valthaty 62 had come off only 52 balls and consisted of six fours and three sixes. Marsh made 47.
David Hussey averted the hat-trick but lasted only four balls and with Dinesh Karthik swinging his bat around, Punjab got 32 in the last 20 balls of the innings.
Brief Scores: KXIP 170 for 6 in 20 overs (Paul Valthaty 62, Shaun Marsh 47; Irfan Pathan 3 for 28, Monel Morkel 1 for 23) vs DD
(Suneer is a Mumbai-based cricket writer and can be contacted at suneerchowdhary@gmail.com and Tweets here @suneerchowdhary)
