IPL 2016: Mishra’s four-star act propels Delhi to big win over Kings XI

Brief Scores: Kings XI Punjab 111/9 in 20 overs (Vohra 32(24), Mishra 4/11) lost to Delhi Daredevils 113/2 in 13.3 overs (de Kock 59 (42), Samson 33(32), Sandeep Sharma 1/6)

111 was a simple score to chase, and Delhi decided to keep things simple. The run rate did not cross the six-mark until the eighth over as the hosts made a cautious start to their innings. Quinton de Kock and Shreyas Iyer batted out two event-less initial overs, but Iyer was caught behind early in the third over. Sandeep Sharma's first delivery was way down the leg side, but Iyer ended up nicking it to keeper Wriddhiman Saha, although snicko suggested he may have been unlucky to be given out.

After pushing the team to 12 off four overs, de Kock went for a sweep that was dropped by Murali Vijay at short leg in the fifth. De Kock punished the mistake with a four off the last ball and did not turn back after that. He sent Axar Patel to the ropes thrice in the eighth over to take Delhi into the six runs per over territory, and that was invitation enough for Sanju Samson. Samson, who had been slow to start with, sent Pardeep Sahu over the long-on ropes in the ninth over. Skipper Miller brought Maxwell on in the 11th over, in a desperate bid to get a breakthrough, but he began with a wide and was sent to the boundary twice in a row by Samson.

Miller brought on Aussie mate Mitchell Johnson, but Johnson was meted out similar treatment, this time from de Kock. After punishing Johnson with two consecutive boundaries, de Kock sent the last for a six – it was banged in short and was there to be punished, and de Kock punished it with a pull that sailed high over long leg.

Axar Patel eventually managed to end Samson's innings with a straight delivery that the batsman failed to read, and the ball struck the timber.

With only 10 runs needed, de Kock sent the first ball of the 13th over for a four. Coming in to strike, Negi finished proceedings with a violent sweep that crossed the midwicket ropes to give the hosts an eight-wicket victory over Punjab.

Earlier, Delhi Daredevils captain Zaheer Khan won the toss and elected to bowl in Delhi, making two changes to his side. Jayant Yadav and JP Duminy came in for Mayank Agarwal and Nathan Coulter-Nile. Punjab replaced Marcus Stoinis with Shaun Marsh, who wasn’t fit for the first game.

Zaheer started the innings with a tight over and that set the ball rolling. The game came to life in the second over, when a comedy of errors happened all across the ground to result in a runout for the away side. Pawan Negi’s slow left armer was lofted by Manan Vohra, but it went over to Zaheer Khan, who failed to grab it. In an attempt to capitalize on the misfield, the Punjab openers went for an extra run, only for Murali Vijay to get run-out off an excellent throw by Karun Nair.

After scoring only 23 runs in their first five, Punjab decided to go after World T20 hero Carlos Brathwaite in the last over of the powerplay, and Vohra ripped the West Indian apart, amassing 14 runs off the over. However, Amit Mishra’s first ball of the game sent Shaun Marsh packing in the very next over. The Aussie batsman charged down the pitch only to miss the turn and the length of the ball, and de Kock behind the stumps did the rest.

Amit Mishra, however, had no plans to loosen his grip on the KXIP batting and dismissed the dangerous Miller and Maxwell in the space of 4 deliveries to cripple Punjab further. On the first ball of the 9th over, Mishra bowled a googly. Miller, anticipating the ball to turn, attempted a sweep but the ball hit his pads, and Mishra’s appeal resulted in the umpire raising his finger. On the fourth ball of the over, Maxwell lofted a shot to long off where Brathwaite cupped a regulation catch to leave KXIP staring down the barrel.

Manan Vohra, though, had hung on through all the bloodbath at the other end, but Mishra made him his 4th wicket on the night, and after Duminy’s direct hit sent back Wriddhiman Saha in the 13th over, it looked like Punjab won’t even play their quota of 20 overs.

An unlikely cameo from Mohit Sharma and Sahu’s last over fireworks ensured Delhi had a relatively-challenging 112 to chase.