Shikhar Dhawan

Dropped catches galore, poor fielding, over throws, wayward line and length invited Deccan Chargers openers, Shikhar Dhawan and Ravi Teja to lift the spirits of Deccan in their final game. It was a must win encounter for the Kings XI Punjab side to stay in hunt for the play-offs. They faced the struggling Deccan Chargers at home which added to their advantage. With Deccan already out of contention and having nothing to lose, Gilchirst would have been wary of the Chargers and it happened exactly the same. Punjab failed to held on their nerves and crumbled in a do or die match, suffering a humungous defeat of 82 runs.

Gilchrist won the toss and elected to field first, as they perform better batting second. However, this decision proved fatal for Punjab. Right from ball one, Chargers openers, Dhawan and Teja, went after the bowling attack, smashing them all over the park. Praveen Kumar did trouble Teja for a while, but it was soon over as the duo went ballistic. Punjab gave away too many chances, dropping catches, missed run outs and poor fielding display and the duo made them pay heavily for the missed chances. The Chargers played impressive cricket, with lots of composure and maturity. Dhawan hammered the bowling and never allowed any bowler to settle. Teja played a mature innings, as he rotated the strike to his partner. Soon Teja started opening up and joined the party.

Punjab was sloppy and sluggish and a bit unlucky. Teja’s run out appeal was ruled out by the Umpire, Asad Rauf, in the 11th over- replay showing the bat was in the air. But Punjab’s sloppy work made them pay heavily. Harris dropped Teja and later in the very next over, Teja hammered Piyush Chawla for 20 runs. However, he perished later for a well made 60, but the damage had already been done. However, Dhawan was in blistering mood as he trashed the Punjab bowling attack, scoring an impressive 95. Deccan posted a massive total of 198 in their 20 overs.

The Punjab team had a mountain to climb with almost 10 runs needed in an over. However, having the lights of Gilchirst, who was unbelievable the other night at the same venue, scoring a quick fire ton. Valthaty too showed his capabilities before. However, it was a nightmare for them, losing Valthaty in the very second over. Marsh stepped in and went after JP Duminy, smashing successive boundaries, but perished trying to do the same on the 3rd delivery. Punjab could not have asked for a worst start than this.

Although wickets were falling, the skipper looked strong and continued with his good form from last game. He looked composed and played brilliant cricket. He was the lone man on whom Punjab hopes were hanging. However, his wicket in the 11th over ended all hopes and it was curtains for Punjab. To make matter worse and receive more disgrace, Amit Mishra grabbed his second IPL hat- trick, leaving Punjab in further dismay.

This loss makes the play-offs clear. Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Bangalore will now play the play- offs. Another season awaiting, some other teams waiting.

Tags: DC, Deccan Chargers, IPL, IPL 2011, IPL 4, Kings XI Punjab, KXIP, Shikhar Dhawan