Rusty shines in dramatic King's XI win

An extraordinary comeback from the King’s XI Punjab enabled them to take their IPL match against the Chennai Superkings to a super-over and then one of the most unlikely victories in the short history of the tournament to break their winless duck at the MA Chidambaran Stadium in Chennai on Sunday.

Full Scoring

Defending a feeble 136-8, the King’s XI owed their victory as much to a woefully paced run-chase by the home side who should have won with ease and always seemed to be in control until the final couple of overs.

An opening stand of 65 between Matthew Hayden and Parthiv Patel should have been all the home side needed to lay the platform for victory but wretched batting in the middle order -- and a sensational debut performance from SA all rounder Rusty Theron -- saw the scores finish level after 20 overs.

Theron followed his ‘normal time’ return of 2-17 from four overs by bowling Hayden first ball and conceding just nine runs in the super-over. If anybody in India doubted the Warriors players temperament, they had no doubt after this.

Mahela Jayawardene slammed the first ball of Muttiah Muralitheran’s super-over for six when the King’s XI replied and, although he was dismissed attempting the same shot again next ball, Yuvraj Singh reverse-swept the fourth ball to the boundary to complete a remarkable victory.

Superkings skipper SK Raina’s decision to bowl first had been vindicated by Albie Morkel and Muralitheran who shared five wickets at a combined cost of just 39 runs in their eight overs.

Morkel took the new ball and claimed 2-23 while the Sri Lanka spin veteran collected a brilliant 3-16 on a pitch containing few demons for the batsmen.

All rounder Irfan Pathan was promoted to open the batting in a bid to ignite the King’s XI season and responded with a measured 39 from 32 deliveries while Yuvraj alone promised a competitive total during a typically aggressive 43 from just 28 deliveries with four boundaries and two sixes.

Scores:
Super-over:
Super Kings 9-2.
King’s XI 10-1

Teams:

Kings XI Punjab: MS Bisla, RS Bopara, PP Chawla, DPMD Jayawardene, M Kaif, IK Pathan, RR Powar, KC Sangakkara (capt & wk), SJ Srivastava, J Theron, Yuvraj Singh