Kings chase down 205 to demolish Sunrisers

HYDERABAD: Kings XI Punjab on Wednesday showcased their wondrous batting might and not for the first time, also showed that virtually no total is beyond them.
On a day when a full house at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium lapped up the entertainment on offer -- 416 runs by two teams in 38.4 overs -- two wicketkeeper-batsmen grabbed the spotlight.Man-of-the-match Wriddhiman Saha upstaged Naman Ojha as his team made short work of Sunrisers Hyderabad with a six–wicket win in a highscoring match.
If the hosts had reason to be happy with their 205 after being put in, they barely had an idea of the deluge of runs to follow as Kings XI not just chased down a similar target for the second time in this edition – following their spectacular win over Chennai Super Kings in UAE – the ruthlessness of their accomplishment (211/4) was awe-inspiring.
Virender Sehwag fell to a tame return catch off a slower delivery by Bhuvneshwar Kumar, but danger came in the unlikely form of Saha (54; 26b, 8x4, 6x2), who in the company of Manan Vohra (47; 20b, 5x4, 6x2), took the attack to the Sunrisers.
Playing his first match of the tournament, Vohra, one of the two changes Punjab made, justified the faith Punjab had in retaining him, and went hell for leather.
Dale Steyn went for 16 in his first, Moises Henriques went for 20 in the sixth as Punjab were comfortably placed at 86 for one by the end of the Ppowerplay. They realized 91 for the second wicket in a mere 41 deliveries as the best laid plans of Sunrisers were torn to shreds by the duo quite willing to throw caution to the wind.
Karn Sharma, replacing Henriques, got a lucky break for his team as Saha was stumped by his opposite number, but Glenn Maxwell, the man in red-hot form, straightaway put him in his place with three sixes.
In a strange coincidence, the match witnessed a batsman being reprieved off a noball in both innings, but Amit Mishra's turned out to be more costly. Steyn was on hand on both occasions as Mishra got it right the second time, but by the time he exited, Maxwell had done the damage with his 43 (22b, 4x2, 6x5).
The dismissal of Vohra, backing up too far at the non-striker's end, did nothing to stop the carnage as Punjab continued their relentless march to the top of the standings with David Miller (24 no; 24b) and skipper George Bailey (35 no; 19b, 4x2, 6x3) giving the finishing touch. At 169 for four after 15 overs, they needed no more hiccups, but with 22 runs coming off Steyn's final over, Punjab were home and dry comfortably.
It was something similar to what had happened to Sandeep Sharma when Sunrisers batted. The Punjab spearhead went for 26 in the fifth over and 26 again in the penultimate over.