Jayawardene's faith in Yuvraj was vindicated

Kingsu00a0XI hero Jayawardene's faith in Yuvraj was vindicated after southpaw stayed unbeaten in yesterday's great chase at Eden

"When Yuvi came on, I just had to be there at the other end. I knew that he would hit a few ones from the other end as he was getting back to form."

If ever Yuvraj Singh needed any assurance of his value in Kings XI Punjab, he got it from man of the match Mahela Jayawardene here yesterday. Jayawardene's 59-ball 110 helped Kings XI Punjab to surpass Knight Riders' massive 200 while Yuvraj stayed unbeaten on 33. It was Jayawardene who said after the loss to Mumbai that the side had a lot of faith in Yuvraj. "He is going through a tough time coming back from injury, but he is a class player and we have a lot of trust in him. He will come good sooner than later," Jayawardene had said. So much for talk of a rift in the team. "Yes, there were things written about our side and the only way we could show unity in the team was with the bat and the ball on the field and we did that."

Kings XI's comprehensive eight-wicket win came as a big blow to Knight Riders who did well to put up 200. "Tom Moody (coach) told me that they were thinking of me to open the batting. He asked me to think about it and I was quite happy to do that," said Jayawardene, whose theatrics were witnessed by a silent, shocked Eden Gardens crowd. It was in complete contrast to when Chris Gayle was batting in glorious fashion earlier in the evening.

There were other contrasting scenes too. Before the match, KKR co-owner Shah Rukh Khan was his cheerful self, blowing kisses to the crowd. By the end of the game, Shah Rukh was dejected and wasted no time in leaving the ground after the presentation.