May 15, 2011
Paul Valthaty struck 62(50b 6x4 3x6) to help Kings XI Punjab beat Delhi Daredevils by 29 runs in the Indian Premier League on Sunday. Interestingly Valthaty took one wicket also and that too of the person who took his wicket i.e. Irfan Pathan.Valthaty put on 102 for the second wicket with Australian Shaun Marsh (46) to help Kings XI post a challenging 170-6 off 20 overs after being put in to bat.
Left-arm pacer Shalabh Srivastava took two wickets and leg-spinner Piyush Chawla claimed three to restrict the Daredevils to 141-8 in 20 overs after the visitors failed to capitalize on a 52-run start.
With their sixth victory in 12 matches and third on the trot, Kings XI moved to fifth in standings with 12 points. The team stays in contention for a spot in the playoffs featuring the top four in the 10-team league.
"It was a great win, it will keep us alive and a 29-run win will help net run rate," Kings XI skipper Adam Gilchrist said. "There were some great catches, one or two blemishes but in general the enthusiasm was terrific."
In Dharamsala, Gilchrist fell for nine, and Valthaty struggled in conditions that aided swing and seam before he found his bearings during his stand with Marsh, lashing six fours and three sixes.
Valthaty hit Australian pacer James Hopes for two sixes and a four in one over and left-handed Marsh smashed spinner Sridharan Sriram for two sixes and as many fours in a single over as the duo turned up the heat.
The pair fell to left-arm pacer Irfan Pathan off successive deliveries in the 15th over but Dinesh Karthik (27) and Mandeep Singh hit six boundaries to help the side finish strongly.
Australian David Warner (29) and Naman Ojha (28) got the Daredevils off to a flying start before Srivastava dismissed the pair off subsequent overs.
Man of the match Chawla dismissed Sriram for four, Venugopal Rao for 16 and Hopes for 7 to trigger a middle-order collapse from which the Daredevils failed to recover.
Source: Extracts from AP
