Before the game against Pune Warriors,Kings XI Punjab were sitting sixth in the table. There were several reasons for the stuttering start to their campaign. Their captain and talisman Adam Gilchrist had done nothing of note for a while now,and the lack of a start had repeatedly pegged them back. As had the mis-firing middle order. Mandeep Singh,Azhar Mahmood and Gurkeerat Singh hadn't exactly done enough to give the impetus towards the end of the innings. The one stat that has summed up their campaign with the bat so far is that no Punjab batsman,five games into the season,has made a fifty yet. Chasing Pune's 185,Mandeep Singh (77 not out off 58 balls) and David Miller (80 not out of 41 balls) did what was proving to be impossible for Punjab's batsman this season,and in the process took the hosts to a thrilling last over win. Batting fast on a flat track,Pune had amassed a big score with almost the entire batting line up cashing in. Robin Uthappa (37 off 33 balls) and Aaron Finch (64 off 42 balls) gave the side a start that saw them go at eight an over for the first half. The platform was laid,and though Punjab pulled it back a little bit in the overs between 10 and 16,dismissing both openers,all it did was delay the final onslaught. Yuvraj Singh walked in at the fall of Uthappa,and though he took a bit of time early on to get his eye in,returned to his free swinging ways,hitting three big sixes on the way to a 34. When he was out,Pune were 142/3 in 17.1. At this point,Punjab may still have thought they could keep Pune down to around 170,but English all-rounder Luke Wright had other ideas. In a 10 ball innings that included six fours and a six,Wright smashed 34 runs to take the side to an imposing total. Bhuvneshwar Kumar gave the side a perfect start to Pune's defense,getting rid of Gilchrist in the third ball. Punjab's chase looked tattered already,for in the next over,Ajantha Mendis had Azhar Mahmood,promoted up the order,leg before for a duck. Punjab's scorecard read 5/2 in 1.1 overs. Manan Vohra had no option but to swing from one end,and did so for a brief while,hitting 22 off 13 balls,as Punjab began to put the runs on the board. Mandeep kept one end up,and favoured the on side for the big hits,but still the required run rate kept climbing. It was not until South African Miller,playing only the second game of the season,came in that Punjab began to mount a serious threat. With the likes of David Hussey still to come,Punjab had something in reserve and this helped the batsmen be less inhibited. So despite the fall of wickets,the runs kept coming. At the half way stage,Punjab were 83/3 and five overs later,needed 57 off 30 balls and the target suddenly seemed gettable. For eleven balls in the 16th and 17th over,Ashok Dinda and Bhuvneshwar Kumar kept the boundaries in check and it looked like the match would slip away from Punjab. The equation was 33 from 13 when Mandeep edged a lucky four. Then things turned around. The Indian still found it difficult to strike cleanly,but fortunately,it was Miller who was on strike on crucial occasions hitting Dinda for two boundaries in the penultimate over. With 16 needed off six,Wright kept the first two balls to singles,but Miller smashed him for six over long off,took a two and hit him for another six in the same area,to claim the nail-biter. Briefscores: Pune Warriors 185/4 (A Finch 64,R Uthappa 37,L Wright 34,A Mahmood 2/42) KXIP 186/3 in 19. 5 overs (D Miller 80 n.o,M Singh 77 n.o,Y Singh 1/15)
