Akshar Patel (left) picked up a wicket and remained unbeaten on 42 to steer Kings XI Punjab to the playoffs. (BCCI)

Agencies/Delhi


The Kings XI Punjab secured their place in the playoffs as they squeezed their way to a narrow four-wicket win over the Delhi Daredevils in their Indian Premier League match at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium in Delhi last night.
Delhi, after being asked to bat, posted 164-7 thanks to a superb 69 off 44 balls from Dinesh Karthik with left-arm quick Beuran Hendricks picking up 3-36 while Sandeep Sharma claimed 3-35.
Punjab replied with 165-6 with two balls of their innings remaining thanks to an aggressive 42 off 19 deliveries from opener Manan Vohra while Akshar Patel, who had earlier taken 1-18 off four overs with his left-arm spin, taking his team home with 42 not out.
The win saw Punjab move two points clear of the second-paced Chennai Super Kings while Delhi remain rooted to the bottom of the table after losing their seventh match on the trot.
Punjab were made to sweat though as they were left to score nine runs off the last over. But Rishi Dhawan (8 not out) smashed the fourth ball, bowled by Wayne Parnell, to the deep midwicket fence for four to secure the win.
Punjab made a lightning start to their run-chase with the Vohra smashing four fours and three sixes before he was caught at long-off off the bowling of legspinner Imran Tahir.
Vohra and Virender Sehwag (23) had put on a first-wicket stand of 67 off 6.2 overs with Sehwag the next man to depart when he sliced a delivery from offspinner JP Duminy to Manoj Tiwary at deep cover.
The in-form Glenn Maxwell (14), who’s first scoring shot was a massive six over cow corner, was the next man to depart when he was bowled by Tahir as Punjab slipped to 92-3 which soon became 94-4 when Duminy bowled David Miller (2).
But Wriddhiman Saha (13) and Patel steadied the innings with a fifth-wicket stand of 33 before Saha was caught at short cover off the bowling of paceman Mohammed Shami.
Delhi briefly raised hopes of victory when George Bailey (6) was dismissed by Tahir in the penultimate over with 10 runs still needed to win. Tahir ended with 3-22.
Karthik had earlier brought up his third fifty of this year’s tournament off 35 balls, before being dismissed in the penultimate over of the innings with his knock including seven fours and three sixes.
Karthik and Kevin Pietersen had put on a good 71-run second-wicket stand off just eight overs with Pietersen showing a return to form after struggling for runs this season. The right-handed Pietersen eventually blazed his way to 49 off 32 balls with six fours and a six before he was bowled by a superb delivery from Patel with the ball spinning past the outside edge of Pietersen’s bat before pegging back the off stump.
Karthik was, initially, content to play a supporting role to Pietersen but he started to play some expansive strokes as he neared his fifty with a checked drive for a straight six off the bowling of seamer Rishi Dhawan being a particular highlight.
Duminy (17) and Karthik added 56 runs for the third wicket before Duminy holed out to long-on off the bowling of Hendricks, making his IPL debut, as Delhi’s innings started to lose momentum. Duminy’s dismissal saw Delhi lose four wickets for the addition of just 18 runs.
Medium-pacer Sandeep Sharma grabbed two wickets in an over when he had Kedar Jadhav (0) caught at deep midwicket before bowling Mayank Agarwal (6). Karthik was the next man out after he top-edged a short ball from Hendricks and was well caught by Dhawan at deep square leg.
Hendricks struck again three balls later when he had Parnell (2) superbly caught on the deep extra cover boundary by Maxwell.