MOHALI: Dimitri Mascarenhas’ five-for set up Kings XI Punjab’s first win of IPL-V as they beat Pune Warriors by seven wickets at the PCA Stadium here yesterday. The victory was Punjab’s first over Pune across the short history of the league. Punjab elected to field and bundled out Pune for 115 in 19 overs on a track with a little something for the seamers, and then chased down the requirement with 14 balls to spare.
Although the home team lost an out-of-sorts Paul Valthaty first ball to Ashok Dinda, and had to tide over a tight Rahul Sharma spell in the middle of the innings, the low target was never going to be any trouble once Shaun Marsh dug in at one end.
Pune might have tested Punjab further had they held their chances, but two dropped catches and a missed run-out of Marsh didn’t do them any favours and in the end, the Aussie’s solid unbeaten 64 (54b, 7×4, 1×6) brought Preity Zinta’s outfit their first points of the season.
But really, the seeds of the win were sown when Pune took strike and Punjab put in the hard yards. Praveen Kumar and Parvinder Awana started their spells tidily and the first breakthrough came about when the dangerous Jesse Ryder was run-out by David Hussey.
At 28-1 in the sixth over, there was no cause for alarm for Pune – just yet.
The introduction of Mascarenhas’ medium-pace changed all that. The English all-rounder accounted for captain Sourav Ganguly in his first ball, a leading edge that lobbed comfortably to Marsh at point. Two deliveries later, a struggling Marlon Samuels was clean-bowled and put out of his misery.
Mascarenhas removed Robin Uthappa just as the Bangladeshi was finding his feet, as Pune lost half their side for 75 in the 13th over, and returned for another double-wicket burst–in the 18th over.
Mithun Manhas 31 (28b, 3×4, 1×6), who provided the only resistance against disciplined Punjab bowling, heaved Mascarenhas for six over long-off to begin the 18th. The bowler got his own back in the very next ball, as Manhas tried to sweep, missed, and saw his stumps scattered.
Mascarenhas wasn’t finished. He added Rahul Sharma to his bag of scalps and concluded with figures of 4-0-25-5, leaving Pune – tottering at 110 for nine – at the point of no return. (Yahoo Sport)