If Kumar Sangakkara had any doubt about the ability of Chaminda Vaas, it would have been cleared on Friday night at Barabati Stadium, Cuttackwhen the veteran left arm seamer proved a point to his Sri Lanka skipper in no uncertain terms, shattering the left hander’s stumps within three balls for a duck.
Vaas was ignored by Sri Lankaselectors who picked a probable squad in consultation with Sangakkara for the forthcoming Twenty20 World Cup despite the champion bowler who retired from Test cricket an year ago, performing exceptionally in the recently concluded domestic T2o tournament.
But the 36-year old has proved to be at his brilliant best during the current IPL tournament for his team Deccan Chargers, proving the Sri Lanka selectors wrong and he drove home another point when he picked up excellent figures of 2 for 27 including the scalp of Sangakkara on Friday to deliver a telling blow to opponents Kings XI, Punjab who were chasing a gettable target 170 and fell short by six runs.
Andrew Symonds struck a brisk 53 off 38 balls as Deccan Chargers scored 170 for seven in 20 overs. The burly Queenslander, who was also adjudged as the Man of the Match, picked up one for 22 and also took an important catch to dismiss Irfan Pathan, who tried to steal a win with his brilliant 60, but still Kings XI Punjab fell short of the total and could muster 164 for eight in 20 overs.
For Deccan Chargers it was their first ever win at their home base of Cuttack, after IPL matches were moved out ofHyderabad due to security situations. It was also their maiden win against the Kings XI Punjab in fifth face-off.
Skipper Adam Gilchrist took the Chargers to a flying start with his 33 off 12 balls hitting four fours and two sixes and by the time he departed, they had 43 runs on board in the third over. V.V.S. Laxman (10) also made his way back to the pavilion soon after he was hit on the forearm by Shalabh Srivastav's wayward throw.
Symonds and Herschelle Gibbs (23) then took the Kings XI bowlers to all parts of the ground with their 55-run stand for the second wicket. Symonds smashed three fours and three sixes during his whirlwind knock. Tirumalasetti Suman also contributed 26 valuable runs at the end as the Chargers put on a challenging total.
Kings XI made a poor start but opener Ravi Bopara (38) continued his good form. Pathan tried to pull off a sensational win with his 29-ball knock hitting five sixes and three fours, but by then the Chargers were on course to deserving victory.
Deccan Chargers:
Adam Gilchrist c Jayawardene b Srivastava 33
V.V.S. Laxman retired hurt 10
Herschelle Gibbs b Yuvraj Singh 23
Andrew Symonds c Bipul Sharma b Yuvraj Singh 53
Rohit Sharma run out (Jayawardene) 1
Anirudh Singh c Sangakkara b Bipul 0
Tirumalsetti Suman run out (Sangakkara) 26
Chaminda Vaas c Bipul b Pathan 16
Jaskaran Singh not out 3
Rudra Pratap Singh not out 4
Extras (w 1) 1
Total (for seven wickets in 20 overs) 170
Fall of wickets: 1-43 (Gilchrist, 2.6 overs), 2-100 (Gibbs, 10.2), 3-102 (Sharma, 10.5), 4-112 (Anirudh Singh, 11.4), 5-142 (Symonds, 16.4), 6-161 (Vaas, 18.5), 7-163 (Suman, 19.2), 7-170 (Laxman, retired not out, 19.6)
Bowling: Irfan Pathan 3-0-16-1 Sreesanth 4-0-51-0 Shalabh Srivastava 4-0-39-1
Piyush Chawla 3-0-24-0 Bipul Sharma 2-0-19-1 Yuvraj Singh 4-0-21-2
Kings XI Punjab:
Ravi Bopara c Symonds b Sharma 38
Manvinder Bisla run out (Suman) 0
Kumar Sangakkara b Vaas 0
Yuvraj Singh c Gibbs b Vaas 4
Mahela Jayawardene b Symonds 14
Adrian Barath c Sharma b Ojha 7
Irfan Pathan c Symonds b Jaskaran 60
Piyush Chawla c Ojha b Singh 9
Bipul Sharma not out 8
Sreesanth not out 12
Extras (lb 10, w 2) 12
Total (for eight wickets in 20 overs) 164
Fall of wickets: 1-10 (Bisla, 2.2 overs), 2-11 (Sangakkara, 2.6), 3-22 (Yuvraj Singh, 4.6), 4-46 (Jayawardene, 7.4), 5-57 (Barath, 10.1), 6-68 (Bopara, 11.6), 7-104 (Chawla, 16.1), 8-152 (Pathan, 19.1)
Bowling: Chaminda Vaas 4-0-27-2 Rudra Pratap Singh 4-0-43-1 Andrew Symonds 4-0-22-1 Prgyan Ojha 4-0-31-1 Rohit Sharma 3-0-19-1 Jaskaran Singh 1-0-12-1
Source: Dailymirror Online
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