KXIP vs DC | Player Ratings - Sam Curran and Mohammed Shami ensures Kings XI Punjab defend small target

04/02/2019

Starting without Chris Gayle, Kings XI Punjab fans saw their team struggle with the bat massively and eventually posting a small target of 167 in the first innings. However, thanks to some brutal fast bowling in the death and a Delhi Capitals choke, KXIP sealed 14-run win in Mohali.

KL Rahul (5/10) – Opening for a side whose firing power was sliced in half by the absence of Chris Gayle, Rahul was needed to play more responsibly alongside rookie Sam Curran. He did start things well with a crisply timed boundary against Kagiso Rabada and two handsome looking shots off Chris Morris but he should have stopped there. One extra point for that brilliant catch of Prithvi Shaw on the very first ball of the second innings.

Sam Curran (6/10) – Necessity is the mother of all invention, and the crisis of an opener might just have given Kings XI Punjab their own Sunil Narine. The left-handed English all rounder came with a vengeance hitting three boundaries off Avesh Khan and one massive six against Sandip Lamichhane. To put icing on the cake, the Englishman was absolutely brutal with the ball in the death finishing with figures of 4/11. Amidst all the stumps being uprooted, not many would have realized that he completed a hat-trick as well.

Mayank Agarwal (2/ 10) – The nightmarish outing for the Indian batsman came to a sad end in a humiliating move. With Delhi reduced to 36/2, an in form Mayank was expected to hold his crease alongside the inexperienced Sarfraz Khan. And while he was looking to that scoring six runs off nine balls, he had to return to a dugout owing to a silly run-out. That must have hurt like hell!

Sarfaraz Khan (7/10) – The 21-year-old was asked to bat at a time when Punjab didn’t know where they were heading and had no plan in path. Constructing an innings has never been Sarfarz’s forte, hence, he had to play his natural offensive self from the very beginning and remain flawless at the same time. At the face of falling wickets, he did really well to hit six boundaries that set the tone for David Miller on the other end.

David Miller (6.5/ 10) – The realization is finally dawning upon Kings XI Punjab that they would be needing David Miller to perform in almost every match if they have to win. And it is now left to the South African to stand up to the task at hand. Unfortunately, despite looking quite vibrant today, Miller’s innings hardly added anything to the first innings and I feel that he didn’t get the right closure to his innings as well.

Mandeep Singh(5/10) – While he hardly played like a T20 innings coming very late in to bat, making 29 off 21 balls, he would get one point for stepping up against the dangerous Kagiso Rabada in the last two balls after a frivolous Mohammed Shami run-out.

Hardus Viljoen (5/10) – Not the best of contributors with the bat, the South African all-rounder got the all-important wicket of Iyer when he was firing on all cylinders. He also gave the DC skipper the death stare following it, which could be safely said now did take the whole team down in the process.

Ravichandran Ashwin (7/10) – Prior to match, there were talks of Ashwin coming to bat at number three for the sheer technical superiority that the player has over most of Punjab’s middle-order batsman. However, when he eventually got the chance to wield his willow, he got beaten on a yorker. However, the skipper got the job done responsibly taking wickets of Shaw and Dhawan with the ball.

Murugan Ashwin (4/10) – He had the most average display ever with both the bat and the ball. It was one of those days where no matter what he did he couldn’t influence the match. He had his luck to blame as well for he was agonizingly close to get Pant run out in his second spell, but the southpaw escaped by the skin of his teeth.

Mohammed Shami (9/10) – I would give him one point for the realization, although late, that dawned upon him after getting jolted by the brutal Rabada bouncer. He let Mandeep finish the run sacrificing his wicket and that let Punjab add ten more runs to the target. However, he avenged that and his previous franchise well, who had released Shami last season, as he sent back Pant and Vihari before producing a significant penultimate over in the second innings.

Mujeeb-Ur-Rahman (3/10) – On a day when Punjab were defending a target as low as 167, Ashwin wanted his mystery spinner to work wonders with the ball. However, the Afghan spinner could hardly make it count as he ended up conceding the second highest runs for Punjab.

KXIP vs DC | Player Ratings - Sam Curran and Mohammed Shami ensures Kings XI Punjab defend small target

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