Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) has taken a huge step towards the play-off of the Indian Premier League season V. After an inconsistent start to the tournament, KXIP picked up on their performance and now are sitting at fifth position of the table with all possibilities of ending on top four.

Batting first KXIP posted a target of 171 for the bottom placed Deccan Chargers (DC) and then bowled beautifully to win the match by 25 runs.

Here are the hits and flops of the match:

Hits and flops of KXIP:

Hits:

Mandeep Singh: The opener played more almost throughout the innings and the score of 170 was due to his single handed efforts. He scored 75 of 48 deliveries and hit eight fours and three sixes at a strike rate of 156.25.

David Miller: He 18 balls 28 runs cameo saw that the good work done by Mandeep did not go waste and ensured that they finished on a good note. His knock was laced with three fours and a six.

Praveen Kumar: After days of misery Praveen Kumar found his rhythm back. He bowled a superb line was miserable and also scalped two important wickets of Shikhar Dhawan and Kumar Sangakkara. He was by all standards the best bowler of the match.

Flops:

Ramesh Powar: Ramesh Powar was asked to open the bowling for his team. But he could live up to the expectation and was taken for runs by DC batsmen. He leaked 32 runs in three overs.

Hits and flops of DC:

Flops:

Veer Pratap Singh: He is seen as a potent bowling option by their skipper Sangakkara, but he failed to live up to that expectation yet again. He was carted all over by the KXIP bowlers and he gave away 45 runs in four overs.

Kumar Sangakkara: He failed with bat yet again. His team would have expected him to recover them from dire straits but he could help the cause much and scored only four runs.

Cameron White: After showing great form over the last couple of matches, it was expected that he would play well and could help his team scale the target with ease. But he could not do much and collapsed under the pressure. He scored just eight runs.

By Samikshan Dutta Choudhury

Indian Sports News