Irfan Pathan's audacious 60 off 29 balls gives Adam Gilchrist & Co a mighty fright before the defending champions register a six-run win.
Deccan Chargers survived a gale-like innings from all-rounder Irfan Pathan to post a six-run win over Kings XI Punjab on Friday. Pathan’s 60 off just 29 balls threatened to turn the tide of the match after it looked at one point that Kings XI Punjab had given up the fight.
Chasing 171, Kings XI looked down for the count when their seventh wicket fell in the 17th over with the total reading 104. However, a 48-run partnership between Pathan, who made 40 of those runs, and Bipul Sharma gave the Chargers some anxious moments towards the end of the match.
With 19 needed off six balls, the game was poised to go either way. Adam Gilchrist decided to bowl medium-pacer Jaskaran Singh in the last over. Pathan got hold of the first ball but only found Andrew Symonds in the deep. The fall of the all-rounder made the Chargers favourites again. S Sreesanth got a thick edge that ran to the boundary off the first ball he faced but failed to connect the next two. He managed two consecutive fours off the penultimate and last ball but by then the Chargers had made it home.
Only Pathan, Bopara, Jayawardene and Sreesanth managed double figures. Vaas (2/27) was the pick of the bowlers for Deccan, while Symonds (1/22), RP Singh, Pragyan Ojha and Sharma all accounted for a victim each.
Earlier, Symonds notched up back-to-back half centuries in the event while skipper Adam Gilchrist made a quick-fire 12-ball 33 to help Deccan post 170 for seven on the board. With this victory, Deccan have gone into the top half of the points table with two wins out of three matches. Kings XI have slumped to their third consecutive defeat.
It was a dismal start to Kings XI’s run chase as they lost two wickets, including that of their skipper Sangakkara’s, inside the third over.
Manvinder Bisla was run out for a duck as T Suman came up with a direct hit. Four balls later, Vaas castled Sangakkara’s timber with a beautiful off-cutter.
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