KXIP break Royals’ streak in Super Over

Cricket365
May 9, 2015

The Kings XI Punjab did what no-one had been able to do yet this year, beating the Rajasthan Royals in a Super Over after both sides made 191, ending the Royals' winning streak on five.

The match was tied on 191 with a sliced four by Axar Patel off James Faulkner, taking the game to a Super Over, the first of this year's tournament. KXIP posted 15 for two, which Rajasthan got nowhere near, all out (two wickets) for six.

Earlier, the Kings XI Punjab won the toss and opted to field, in their quest to break the Royals' winning streak. It did not go to plan for much of the knock though, as the opening pair of Ajinkya Rahane and Shane Watson flourished.

The pair put on 95 together in under 12 overs, with Watson making 45 of those. He struck two sixes and five fours before being stumped, leaving Rahane to continue on with Deepak Hooda. The youngster was only able to make 19 though.

Steve Smith suffered a rare fate for him lately, out for a golden duck, and suddenly they were 137 for three. Rahane and Karun Nair took the score into the 160s before the India batsman was out for 74 to Mitchell Johnson.

A flurry of wickets fell then, and it looked like KXIP had done well to prevent a big score, but the final over went for 16 runs. Stuart Binny smacked 12 off four balls, including a six off the last ball, while Sanju Samson added a boundary.

The chase got off to a poor start as Virender Sehwag, captaining the side in the absence of an injured George Bailey, was run out for one. Glenn Maxwell was also out for a single run, while Murali Vijay was run out for 21.

The bulk of the runs were scored by Shaun Marsh, in his fist game this year, and David Miller. Marsh made 65 off 40 balls, including three sixes, while Miller was in the middle nearly to the end, making 54 off 30.

The final over saw KXIP needing 14 to win, with Axar Patel and Mitchell Johnson batting. Faulkner had the ball, and while he gave up a string of twos, he was unable to prevent that four to tie the game off the last ball.

KXIP then batted first in the Super Over, and Miller was trapped LBW by a Morris full toss first ball. Marsh saw them to 15 for two but was run out off the last ball, Maxwell at the other end.

Johnson took the ball for KXIP, while Faulkner and Watson came to bat after a short delay. Johnson bowled Watson with a yorker first ball, and followed that up with a no-ball for height that Smith edged for four.

They then needed 10 off four balls after a single, and Wriddhiman Saha struck with a superb run out. The batsman swung and missed, started to run, and was miles out before he could turn back.