Saini, Hussey lead Kings XI run chase

NEW DELHI: Chasing 159-run target, Nitin Saini and David Hussey put on quick fifty-run stand to lead the Kings XI Punjab run chase against Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League match at M Chinnaswamy stadium.

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Punjab lost Mandeep Singh (43) and Shuan Marsh (8) after an aggressive start to their run chase.

Off-spinner KP Appanna dismissed Mandeep in the ninth over to reduce Punjab to 73/2 in 8.5 overs. Mandeep hit a six and six boundaries in his 30-ball blitzkrieg to lead the run chase and stitched two quick thirty-run stands for Kings XI.

Mandeep put on 35 runs for the second wicket with wicketkeeper batsman Nitin Saini after 38 for the opening wicket with Marsh.

Marsh hit just one four in his sedate 10-ball innings before Andrew McDonald got better of him in the fifth over.

Kings XI raced to fifty in 5.3 overs as they look to be on track of their target.

Sent in to bat, Chris Gayle scored fiery 71 off 42 balls to help Royal Challengers post 158/5 against Kings XI.

Royal Challengers were heading for much more before Azhar Mahmood (3-20) produced a terrific final over to restrict them below 160 runs. Mahmood dismissed AB de Villiers (17) and Andrew McDonald (9) in the last over and conceded just 4 runs.

Bangalore lost Virat Kohli (45) and Chris Gayle (71) in quick succession after the duo added a quick-fire 119 runs stand to resurrect their innings.

Leg-spinner Piyush Chawla dismissed Kohli in the seventeenth over to reduce Bangalore to 134/4 in 16.4 overs, soon after Mahmood struck in the previous over to break the imposing Gayle-Kohli partnership.

Gayle hit four massive sixes and six boundaries in his whirlwind 41-ball knock to lead the Bangalore run charge. The West Indian batsman raced to his fifty in just 32 balls after starting his innings cautiously.

Kohli too joined the party to regain his lost form in the match as he smashed two big sixes and three fours in his 42-ball 45 innings.

The Gayle-Kohli duo put on 100 runs stand in just 70 balls and took Bangalore’s total to 100 in 13 overs. After an early blow, they resurrect the Bangalore innings patiently before breaking free in the second half of their innings.

Praveen Kumar gave away just eight runs in his 4 overs to put a check on the imposing Gayle in the first half as the hosts reached fifty in 9.1 overs.

Pacer Ryan Harris struck in the second over to provide Kings XI an early breakthrough against Royal Challengers.

Harris clean bowled Bangalore opener Mayank Agarwal (7) with his third ball to reduce the hosts to 7/1 in 1.3 overs. Agarwal smacked a six off Harris’s very first delivery but two balls later the Aussie pacer had the last laugh when he hit the off-stump with an amazing out-swinger.

Earlier, Kings XI stand-in skipper David Hussey won the toss and decided to field against Royal Challengers on Wednesday.

Hussey is captaining Kings XI again as Adam Gilchrist is still recovering from torn hamstrings.

The Punjab side has made three changes in the playing XI. They have included Ryan Harris in David Miller’s place. Paras Dogra and Abhishek Nayar have replaced Bhargav Bhatt and Bipul Sharma.

Bangalore have brought in Andrew McDonald, Asad Pathan in place of Tillkaratne Dilshan and Harshal Patel.

Squads:

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Daniel Vettori (C), Chris Gayle, Andrew McDonald, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Saurabh Tiwary, Mayank Agarwal, R Vinay Kumar, Zaheer Khan, Asad Pathan and KP Appanna.

Kings XI Punjab: David Hussey (C), Mandeep Singh, Shaun Marsh, Azhar Mahmood, Ryan Harris, Piyush Chawla, Nitin Saini, Praveen Kumar, Parvinder Awana, Paras Dogra and Abhishek Nayar.