Gurajat Lions' powerful batting line-up falters against struggling Kings XI
Match Report:
ScorecardPatel hat-trick spins Kings XI to victory
The Match in a Tweet: Patel’s four-wicket burst, including the first hat-trick of the season, caps Kings XI’s renewed vigour as they trip up Gujarat Lions in Rajkot
The Hero: Prior to this game, Axar Patel had four wickets in seven matches, toiling around as just another cog in the Kings XI wheel. On Sunday, he topped the renewed vigour with which his team fought against the table-toppers with a brilliant 4-21. A target of 155 was never going to be enough if their opening guns had blasted away, but once Gujarat were struggling at 2-34, young Patel worked his magic. He struck in the seventh over, when Dwayne Smith (15 off 18) attempted to clear the long off boundary only to find the fielder gleefully accepting the catch. Two balls later, Dinesh Karthik played on off a quicker arm-ball, his leg stump disturbed. It was a case of lightning striking twice – and Patel striking thrice in four balls – as Dwayne Bravo too dragged one onto the leg stump off an inside edge, bowled for a first-ball duck. Patel then returned in the 10th over, and fired one in from around the wicket, even as Ravindra Jadeja had a swipe at it. The bowler and keeper went up in unison, as did the umpire’s finger even as the batsman was shocked by the decision. It didn’t matter, for the first hat trick of this 2016 season had meant that Lions were tottering at 6-57.
The Aussie Pack: Mitchell Johnson was omitted again by Kings XI, while Aaron Finch continued to sit out for Gujarat. Marcus Stoinis opened for Kings XI and made an immediate impact as he stroked his way to 27 off 17, including three fours and a six. It helped Kings XI bring up 50 off 25 balls, but he failed to pick Ravindra Jadeja’s quicker delivery and was stumped after charging out. The Lions’ mystery spinner Shivil Kaushik accounted for both Shaun Marsh (1) and Glenn Maxwell (0), although the latter’s caught-behind dismissal was the first of two dubious decisions of the afternoon. Later, James Faulkner scored 32 off 27 for Gujarat, but the chase was beyond saving by the time he had come to the crease.
The Dibbly-Dobbly Spinner: There is no correct way to describe left-arm chinaman Shivil Kaushik’s action, except to say that it reminds everyone of South Africa’s Paul Adams. But even Adams' action was well-oiled, while Kaushik’s seems more complex and physically tough. It was unfortunate to see him lose his maiden wicket to a no-ball in his IPL debut against the Rising Pune Supergiants, but there was no holding back on Sunday as he snapped up 3-20. At one stage, Kings XI were struggling at 5-100 after a sedate opening stand. He did his part in restricting their final score, but the Lions’ batsmen couldn’t hold up their end of the bargain.
The New Captain’s Tricks: A change in captaincy midway through the season is never desirable. But there have been instances in the past where it has worked. Kings XI hoped for similar magic when they brought in Murali Vijay to lead and while it is too early to judge, it did bring about some difference to their fortunes. He changed around the playing eleven, bringing in Stoinis to open. They were off to a canter, putting on 59 off 30, with the skipper going on to score 55 off 41. Most importantly though, it freed David Miller’s burden and the South African rediscovered his touch to score 31 off 27. He put on a quickfire partnership of 39 off 25 with Wriddhiman Saha (33 off 19) to etch out a defendable 154 for Punjab.
The Gujarat Dependency: It has become a fashion for Gujarat to depend on their openers, with Finch taking them home in the first three games of the season with successive hundreds. Since his injury troubles, they have now developed the same affinity for runs off Smith and Brendon McCullum’s blades. So much so that only Karthik boasts of a half-century outside the top-three and this over-dependency resulted in their second loss in eight matches. Mohit Sharma (3-32) bowled an engaging opening spell that captured the former New Zealand skipper for just a solitary run in the second over. Three overs later, skipper Suresh Raina (18 off 15) met the same fate and the Lions stood exposed. With Patel spinning out the middle order, it was left to the lower order batsmen to put up a fight, but it was a task that proved too great an ask.
The Stat: Patel’s effort was a first hat-trick by a Kings XI Punjab bowler since Yuvraj Singh took two hat tricks in the 2009 season.
The Wash-Up: It was only the second victory and the second loss for Punjab and Gujarat respectively. As such, it doesn’t alter their positions in the standings. The former are still languishing at the bottom with four points from seven games, meanwhile the latter are still top, with 12 points from eight games.
The Next Stop: The Lions will stay put at Rajkot and take on the high-flying Delhi Daredevils on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Kings XI will travel to Kolkata next and play the Knight Riders on Wednesday.