Milller thriller upstages Pune
South African recruit David Miller struck two sixes in the final over to allow the Kings XI Punjab a seven-wicket triumph over the Pune Warriors in Sunday's tight Indian Premier League clash at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh.
South African recruit David Miller struck two sixes in the final over to allow the Kings XI Punjab a seven-wicket triumph over the Pune Warriors in Sunday's tight Indian Premier League clash at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh.
England all-rounder Luke Wright, making his first outing of the campaign for the Warriors, was dispatched over the rope for six on two occasions by Miller, whose second maximum sealed victory with one ball to spare.
Miller ended unbeaten on 80 not out from 41 balls, sharing an unbroken and match-winning 128-run partnership with Mandeep Singh (77no off 58) to help Kings XI chase down 186 in thrilling fashion.
Wright had earlier played a useful cameo with the bat, crunching 34 not out off just 10 balls to help Pune post a commanding 185-4 batting first.
Warriors captain Aaron Finch had earlier laid the foundations with a well-complied 64 and would have been confident of defending the total at the halfway stage.
Pune were sitting even prettier when Adam Gilchrist (4) and Azhar Mahmood (0) fell inside the first seven balls, but Manan Vohra helped steady the ship with a quickfire 22 before Singh and Miller took centre stage.
Only Yuvraj Singh (1-15) of the Pune bowlers exerted any sort of control and it was perhaps a surprise when Finch asked Wright to bowl the final over instead of the left-arm spinner.
With 16 runs required the fielding side remained favourites and their chances improved further when only two singles were yielded from Wright's first two balls.
But Miller was to have the final say, carving a full third delivery over the rope before sealing a third win for Kings XI by thumping the penultimate ball over long-off.
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