By IANS,
Mohali : Kings XI Punjab maintained their winning spree, registering a six-wicket win over Deccan Chargers in the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium here Friday night.
Chasing a target of 176, Kings XI romped home to a win with just three balls to spare after openers Shaun Marsh scored a brilliant 60 and Kumar Sangakkara made 50.
The Deccan Chargers, who are already out of the tournament, were in no mood to lose their pride any more as they put on a splendid batting display riding on identical 50s from Adam Gilchrist and Rohit Sharma, to put up a competitive 175 for four on board.
Gilchrist and Gibbs punished the bad balls early in the innings. Gibbs, who at times was uncomfortable against Sreesanth’s swing, rounded off the third over, which went for 12 runs, with a perfectly timed drive through extra cover.
Chargers were also helped by some poor fielding. That dropped catch of Rohit on 32 proved costly as the bastmen went on score a well deserved half-century in just 27 balls.
But the good work of the Chargers batsmen was undone by some wayward bowling of their bowlers.
The 84-run opening stand between Marsh and Sangakkara was the testimony of the the way Kings XI openers treated Chargers bowlers.
After a solid start, some big hits by Piyush Chawla and Mahela Jaayawardene sealed the match in Kings XI’s favour.