Kings XI Punjab vs Chennai Super Kings – Indian Premier League 5 – Kings XI stay in contention, put Chennai on the verge of elimination
An all-round display from Kings XI http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Himachal-Pradesh-c791
Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamsala, on May 17, 2012.
Both teams needed win to stay in contention but it was the home side, which triumphed under seamer friendly conditions. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Adam-Gilchrist-c918 returned for the hosts and anchored his side to a diminutive 121-run target put on by the Super Kings, owing to some exquisite
piece of bowling from the Kings XI bowlers.
The veteran left-hander, who had been out of action since April 18 due to a hamstring strain, came back at the expense of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/SE-Marsh-c2470, and made sure his side opted to field first after winning the toss. The green-tinged pitch, coupled with overcast conditions,
at their second home played a major part in their dominancy - with http://www.senore.com/Cricket/P-Kumar-c2143 providing the early breakthroughs.
The medium-pacer got the ball to do the talking, claiming the wickets of openers, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/MEK-Hussey-c1942 (7), both of whom edged behind. Kumar bowled his full quota of overs, ending with impressive figures of 4-0-18-2.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Parvinder-Awana-c80792 into the attack, and both men managed to keep their side in the ascendency.
The latter was majestic with his line and length – troubling the middle-order with his extra pace and nip. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/SK-Raina-c2539 managed to break the shackles with couple of sixes off Mahmood but the experienced Pakistani campaigner returned strongly – getting the
better of the left-hander with Gilchrist picking up his third catch.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s stay was also nervy and after missing a few, he tried to loft Awana down the ground but only found the outside edge of the bat, with the ball travelling to the third man region.
It left the tourists stuttering at 4 for 46 however, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/JA-Morkel-c1613 (14) propelled his side to reach to 120 – with him falling on the penultimate
ball of the innings off http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Harris-c61739.
The Kings XI chase was dominated by Gilchrist, who ended up with an unbeaten 64 off 46. His stand with opener http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mandeep-Singh-c74122 laid a perfect platform, with both adding 51 for the first wicket.
Mandeep (24) was cleaned by Morkel, after which Bravo’s double strike, which included wickets of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/DJ-Hussey-c1380, kept Chennai in the hunt. However, with Gilchrist still at the crease, Kings XI remained in control and the skipper duly took matters
in his own hands – guiding his team to an easy 6-wicket win with more than 3 overs to spare.
The defending champions will now be relying on other results, while Kings XI need to ensure that they win their final game against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Delhi-c780 Daredevils by a big margin and consequently improve their net-run rate – a decisive factor in the eventual qualification
for the next round.
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