CLT20: Maxwell, Perera inspire Kings XI Punjab to win over Hobart

Mohali A cracking knock from Glenn Maxwell helped Kings XI Punjab overcome a poor start to their chase and win the battle of firsttimers against Hobart Hurricanes by five wickets in the Champions League T20 here todayKings were reduced to 51 for four in the chase of 145 before Maxwell hammered 43 runs off 25 balls to turn things around for the home team Thereafter captain George Bailey 34 runs of 27 balls and Thisara Perera 35 off 20 shared a blistering 69run stand to make short work of the target in 174 oversHurricanes who made their tournament debut alongside Kings tonight recovered to make 144 for six after Bailey won the toss and decided to put the opposition inGlenn Maxwell hit a blistering 43 off just 25 balls against Hobart HurricanesKings had a disastrous start to their chase with Virender Sehwag caught at third man off Doug Bollinger 230 on the very first ballThe hosts high on international stars were expected to chase down the target easily but the Hurricanes bowlers dashed that expectation by making the opposition batsmen uncomfortable through sheer paceWicketkeeper batsman Wriddhiman Saha 11 joined Manan Vohra at the crease came after Sehwags failure He could not handle the serious pace for long and scooped a simple catch to Shoaib Malik at midonBen Hilfenhaus 130 was equally effective from the other end and took the important wicket of David Miller 0 to leave Kings reeling at 23 for three in the fourth over The southpaw from South Africa went for the big shots straight away only to be caught at midoffSoon after Vohras lacklustre innings came to end making it 51 for four in 73 oversAll Kings hopes were now pinned on their dangerous overseas player Glenn Maxwell and he did not disappointHe instantly made his presence felt in the middle by hammering fellow Australian Bollinger for a straight six Maxwell one of the stars of IPL7 went on to smash four boundaries and another maximum in his blazing knock The Kings camp knew they will be home if the big show stayed any longerHis sudden departure however tilted the game in favour of Hurricanes again Maxwell attempted to whack another one out of the park over midwicket but ended up edging it to the wicketkeeper off medium pacer Evon Gulbis The hosts still needed 68 runs off 54 ballsIt was down to the skipper Bailey and Perera to get their team over the line and the experienced pair eventually managed to do that with little difficulty Their 69run partnership came off just 41 ballsEarlier Kings XI Punjab put up an impressive bowling effort to restrict Hobart Hurricanes to 144 for sixLeftarm spinner Akshar Patel 120 along with seamers Parvinder Awana 125 and Thisara Perera 217 made life tough for the opposition batsmen However a 52run stand from Travis Birt 28 runs off 21 balls and Jonathan Wells 28 off 18 helped Hurricanes recover to post a competitive total on a twopaced surfaceBoth teams are playing CLT20 for the first timeKings were on the money right away after putting the opposition in to bat The successful opening pair of Ben Dunk and Tim Paine in the Big Bash back home struggled for runsPatel who helped Kings reach the IPL7 final provided the first breakthrough by finding the stumps of Hurricanes skipper Paine 11 with a fast straighter oneDunk 25s dismissal made it 43 for two in eight overs The southpaw went for a big one off Perera but his high mistimed hit found the safe hands of Glenn Maxwell at deep coverAiden Blizzard 27 off 18 then hit some lusty blows to give the innings a push before getting caught in the deep at a wrong time Hurricanes were in further trouble with their experienced foreign recruit Shoaib Malik 14 departing to leave visitors at 78 for four in the 13th over The Pakistani allrounder tried to smack legspinner Karanveer Singh on one knee but could only manage to find Kings captain Bailey at midwicketBirt and Wells then forged a vital stand to bail the team out of troubleWhile Wells enthralled the sparse Mohali crowd with some pure cricketing shots Birt displayed brute force Birt took a particular liking to Karanveer smashing him for two sixes in one over Just when they were looking more and more dangerous Wells was run out Birt fell on the penultimate ball of the innings but his effort was enough to set up a fighting scoreBrief ScoresHobart Hurricanes 144 for six in 20 overs JonathanWells 28 Travis Birt Adrian Blizzard 27 Thisara Perera217Kings XI Punjab 146 for five in 174 oversGlenn Maxwell 43 George Bailey 34 Thisara Perera 35