IPL 9: Stoinis stars as Kings XI Punjab shock Delhi Daredevils

Mohali Thebowlers displayed exceptional death bowling skills and Marcus Stoinis starred with both bat and ball as Kings XI Punjabshocked a formidable Delhi Daredevils by 9 runs in an IPL encounter here tonightDefending a target of 181 Kings XI Punjab restricted Daredevils to 172 for 5 even as the Zaheer Khanled outfit looked set to get 44 off 4 overs which was considered par for the course on a flat batting wicketWhile KXIPs third win does not change their position inthe league table but certainly keeps them alive whileDaredevils will rue a missed opportunity even though they stayput at third place in the tableMarcus Stoinis hits one on the offside during his knock against Delhi at Mohali on Saturday PicPTIThe hero for KXIP would be Mohit Sharma 021 in 4 overswho did not get any wickets but should unbelievable variationsto bowl 12 dot balls equivalent two maiden oversThe 17th over bowled by Marcus Stoinis 340 in 4 overswas an eventful one that saw the rightarm gentle medium pacergive only 4 runs gettimg Sam Billings 6 in the processIn the last three overs Daredevils needed 40 from last 3oversCarlos Brathwaite 12 hit a four and a six off SandeepSharma before providing a simple catch for the fielderstationed at midwicket boundary trying a pull shotWith 29 needed off 13 balls the match seemed likeslipping out of Daredevils hands Mohit Sharma compoundedtheir woes bowling a brilliant 19th over giving away onlythree runs as KXIP pocketed the match in that very overSandeep then kept his cool in the final over where 25 wasneeded and he gave only 15 runsDe Kock was watchful for the first few deliveries beforehitting his first boundary off spinner KC Cariappa sweepinghim to the square leg boundary In the next over he smashed Mohit Sharma over extra cover for another boundaryWhen Stoinis was introduced into the attack De Kock wasquick to cut him and then drove him through the covers forback to back to boundariesAxar Patel was slog swept over backward square leg for asix followed by a boundary through the coversThe 50 runs came in the final over of Powerplay as SanjuSamson smartly nudged around for the singles to give De Kockthe bulk of the strikeHe used the sweep and cut shot to good effect against thespinners Cariappa and Patel to hit them for boundariesDe Kocks own 50 came off 28 balls with a lustily pulledsix off Stoinis But he did not last long after that as hetried to slash a Stoinis slower only to be caught at backwardpoint De Kocks 52 off 30 balls had six boundaries and twosixes as the opening stand yielded 70 runsOnce De Kock was out Samson gave Cariappa the chargehitting him for a big six followed by a boundary The came inthe 12th overIn the 14th over Samson picked up Stoinis to pull himand then hit him thriough vacant extra cover to reach 49before indiscretion cost him his wicketHe tried to hit Stoinis for a six after the twoboundaries only to be caught by Glenn Maxwell at longonSamsons 49 off 35 balls had four boundaries and a sixThe SamsonKarun duo added 51 runs for the second wicketas another 61 runs were required for victoryKarun Nair 23 simply did not get going and David Millerhaving dropped him once did not make the same mistake secondtime round when KC Cariappas bowling Karun and Samsonsdismissals due to poor shot selections was the biggest reasonfor Daredevils faltering in chaseEarlier Wriddhiman Saha hit a scintillating halfcenturyas Kings XI Punjab managed a competitive 181 for 5 in 20oversWriddhimans 33ball52 which comprised seven boundarieswas wellcomplemented by a 44ball52 from Marcus Stoinisafter Zaheer Khan put the home team into batThe Test specialist who has had uneventful IPL since thestart of the 2015 edition finally got a score of significanceafter 19 innings Incidentally it was his first 50 plus scoreafter his century in the 2014 IPL finalThere were two significant partnerships in the KXIPinnings 58 for the third wicket between Stoinis andWriddhiman while the Bengal stumper also enjoyed a quickfire46run stand in 41 overs with Glenn Maxwell 16For the Daredevils Chris Morris 230 in 4 overs wasthe most successful bowler while skipper Zaheer Khan 125 in3 overs had a decent outing Mohammed Shami 134 in 3 overshad a lean day so did the consistent legspinner Amit Mishra037 in 4 oversThe last 6 overs produced 75 runs for the Kings XI Punjabwho posted their highest team total of season9 so farMurali Vijay 25 16 balls started with a flurry ofboundaries as he was in a mood to punish Morris who finallygot his revenge when KXIP skippers short arm pull wasbrilliantly snapped by Carlos Brathwaite standing atmidwicketHashim Amla 1 and Stoinis during their short anduneventful stay at the wicket could have got runout on threeoccasions Finally Amla was indeed runout as he failed toreturn to his crease bringing Wriddhiman inWriddhiman started with a square cut off Mohammed Shamiwhile Stoinis lofted Nadeem for a big straight six The second six that the Aussie hit was off a slower delivery fromBrathwaiteThe duo added 50 runs in 33 balls as the 100 run of theteam came in 125 oversStoiniss well deserved halfcentury his first in fourIPL matches came off 42 balls His innings had three fours andtwo sixesBut his joy was shortlived as skipper Zaheer removed himwhen he was holed out at the longon by Sanju Samson for 53off 44 ballsOnce Stoinis was out Wriddhiman took it upon himself toaccelerate the scoring He hit Mishra inside out and thenpulled him for good measureBut standout was the 16th over where he hit Zaheer forthree boundaries in the onside A couple of pullshots and aone behind the squareThe 50 came off 29 balls when he cover drove Morris for adoubleSuch was Wriddhimans domination that the normallypugnacious Glenn Maxwell decided to play the second fiddle