By IANS,
Hyderabad : An unbeaten 81-run stand between debutant Shaun Marsh and Mahela Jayawardena powered Kings XI Punjab to a comprehensive seven-wicket victory against Deccan Chargers here Thursday night.
Chasing a modest target of 165, Marsh hit a classy 84 off 62 balls and shared a match-winning stand with Jayawardena (45 off 23 balls) to romp home with seven balls to spare.
Kings XI’s new opening duo of Marsh and Ramnaresh Sarwan (15 off 15) gave a perfect start to the visitors’ chase, putting up 41 runs.
However, Sarwan was runout in the sixth over and then Doddapaneni Kalyankrishna (34/1) picked up the all-important wicket of Kumar Sangakkara (three off four balls) in the very next over to bring Chargers back in the game.
A 41-run stand between Marsh and skipper Yuvraj Singh (14 off nine balls) kept Kings XI on the track before Nuwan Zoysa took an easy catch off his own bowling to send Yuvraj packing.
That was all Deccan Chargers’ bowlers could manage on the day, as some sensible batting display from Marsh and Jayawardena ensured Kings XI’s third win in the tournament.
Marsh hit 11 shots to the fence against a lone over-boundary, while Jayawardena’s hit six fours and a six.
Earlier, powered by Rohit Sharma’s blazing half century, Deccan Chargers piled up a competitive score 164 for eight wickets in their allotted 20 overs.
Sharma was the star for the Chargers as he hit a quickfire 75 off 40 balls to give the hosts’ bowlers a competitive score to defend. The other two Chargers batsmen to have made double figures were captain V.V.S. Laxman (48 off 34 balls) and Shahid Afridi (13 off seven balls).
Sharma’s magnificent knock was studded with 10 boundaries and two sixes.
Sent into bat, Deccan Chargers was stunned early by Irfan Pathan when he bowled Adam Gilchrist (six runs in as many balls) in the fourth over. Leg-spinner Piyush Chawla who struck the second blow sending Herschelle Gibbs (seven off nine balls) home in the seventh over.
Chawla picked up the crucial wicket of Laxman to put the hosts under pressure at 67 for three in the ninth over.
Sharma carried on his attacking game as wickets continued to tumble at the other end.
Chawla was the pick of the Kings’ XI bowlers, taking three wickets for 28 runs in his four overs. Pathan (30/2), Sreesanth (33/1) and Gagandeep Singh (37/1) were the other wicket-takers.