IPL 2017 | Hashim Amla half-century propels Punjab to first win in five matches

04/23/2017

Hashim Amla and Axar Patel ensured that Kings came away with a 26-run win over Gujarat Lions in Rajkot - their first in five games. Chasing a target of 189 runs, the Gujarat top-order failed yet again and the team could manage just 162 runs with Dinesh Karthik top scoring with 58* runs.

Brief Scores: Kings XI Punjab 188/7 (Hashim Amla 65, Axar Patel 34; Andrew Tye 2/35; Nathu Singh 1/7) beat Gujarat Lions 162/7(Dinesh Karthik 58*, Suresh Raina 32, KC Cariappa 2/24, Axar Patel 2/36) by 26 runs.

Suresh Raina won the toss and elected to chase after successfully doing so in the last game against KKR. Gujarat made four changes, with Nathu Singh, Shubham Agarwal, Andrew Tye, and Akshdeep Nath coming in to replace James Faulkner, Ishan Kishan Dinesh Karthik, and Praveen Kumar. Glenn Maxwell claimed that he was happy not to field in the Gujarat heat after making three changes with Manan Vohra, T Natarajan, and KC Cariappa making a comeback into the playing XI after missing out on the Mumbai game.

Amla shines again after Vohra departs early

The Kings were dealt an early blow when debutant Nathu Singh dismissed Manan Vohra on just the second ball of his IPL career and followed that up by giving away just three runs in his second over to restrict Punjab to 25/1 after four overs. But Hashim Amla, who scored his maiden century in the last game, and Shaun Marsh steadied the innings with both timing the ball sweetly ensuring that the Kings finished the powerplay at 50/1. Marsh and Amla upped the ante in the next few overs with some exquisite shots but it didn’t last long as Andrew Tye dismissed Marsh in his first over with a knuckle ball. Amla, however, kept going and at the halfway stage took his side to 88 as the South African brought up his 50.

Axar Patel takes Punjab past 180

Maxwell who joined Amla at the crease signalled his intent early as he smashed Basil Thampi for a huge six over mid-wicket. Shubham Agarwal was the next to feel the brunt of the Aussie’s force as he saw the ball sail over the ropes twice in one over. But it was the 23-year-old who had the last laugh bringing an end to the rapid 47 run stand by dismissing Amla for 65. Two balls later Jadeja removed Maxwell to bring the Lions roaring back into the game. The loss of the two settled players was always going to be hard to recover from and as expected, Punjab struggled to build momentum after that. But as luck would have it, Nathu Singh suffered a hamstring injury during his run up which meant that Dwayne Smith had to be given an over. It proved to be an important over for the Kings as Axar Patel ensured he cashed in on the Part timer taking 18 runs off him. Basil Thampi, too, was thrashed 12 off the last over as the Kings set a target of 189 for the Lions to chase.

Lions batters fail to fire in unison

Gujarat had a daunting climb ahead of them and needed top order to fire on all cylinders but their chase couldn’t get off to a good start as Brendon McCullum was trapped LBW in the very first over by Sandeep Sharma. Raina, though, got going from the outset and kept picking the singles and doubles whilst hitting regular boundaries, at the other end. Aaron Finch’s scratchy stay at crease ended early when Marcus Stoinis took a stunner at extra cover. Dinesh Karthik came in and played some lovely shots to keep Gujarat in the run-chase. Punjab bowlers had some respite when Maxwell gobbled up a composed catch at the deep mid-wicket boundary to send Raina packing for 32. Karthik, however, ensured the run-scoring rate didn’t fall and took the hosts to 82/3 off the first 10 overs.

Spinners propel Punjab into the playoff places

With the required run rate rising consistently, the Gujarat batsmen began feeling the heat and the home side lost Jadeja, Dwayne Smith, and Akshdeep Nath in a space of eight balls. Gujarat were in a heap of trouble, struggling at 106/6 after 14 overs. Andrew Tye took 15 runs off an Axar Patel over but by then the target was looking out of reach. With 68 runs required off the last five overs, the dice was loaded heavily in the favour of the visitors, with only threat being the Karthik-Tye pair. But Sandeep took care of that as well when he ended hosts’ hopes of pulling off a heist. Karthik kept going but with the 18th and the 19th over yielding just 11 runs, Gujarat knew the game was up. The Lions managed to end the game with just 162 runs, 26 short of the target, as Punjab celebrated their first win five games.