Kings X I Punjab started their campaign with a thundering performance against Pune Warriors. They outplayed them in every department and made it a one-sided affair. First it was their fast bowlers who restricted them to a low total of 99 and after that it was Manan Vohra who played a blistering knock of 43 runs to steer his side to a comfortable victory.
Here we bring to you the heroes and zeroes of the game between Kings XI Punjab and Pune Warriors.
HITS
Azhar Mahmood: Azhar Mahmood bowled brilliantly and displayed that the age won't stop him from delivering his best. He picked up two wickets and gave away just 19 runs. His ability to bowl full-length deliveries made him stand apart from all the bowlers from his team.
Manan Vohra: Vohra was the star of the day and played some ruthless shots to destroy the decent-looking bowling attack of Pune warriors. He scored seven boundaries and showed a great character by playing some sensible shots. He scored 43 runs off 28 balls and batted till the end to take his team to a thumping first win of the season.
Praveen Kumar: Praveen struck the early blow after dismissing Manish Pandey in his very first over. He kept on bowling in the right areas to keep the batsman guessing about what he is coming up with. He picked up two wickets for 29 runs.
Mandeep Singh: Mandeep Singh played his part really well and stayed on the crease for good 10 overs. He scored 31 runs off 26 balls and smashed four boundaries. He can play an instrumental role in the upcoming matches and looks a good opening batsman with Adam Gilchrist.
Ryan Harris: Harris bowled a very tight line to keep the Pune batsmen quiet throughout the match. He ended up with the figures of 1/12 in his quota of four overs. He picked up the wicket of Mitchell Marsh who was trying to go for big hits to accelerate the scoring rate.
FLOPS
Angelo Mathews: Mathews again chose the wrong team combination. By not taking Steve Smith into the squad, he committed the blunder again. He didn’t bat well and was dismissed on just four runs by Parwinder Awana.
Manish Pandey: He was not having any clue against Praveen Kumar and could not hold himself for more than six balls. He got dismissed trying to play across the line.
Ashok Dinda: His bowling skills are under scanner after this disastrous performance. In his two overs, he gave away 28 runs and was responsible for the blazing start of Kings XI Punjab. His experience of opening the bowling was of no use as he bowled a scattered line and length and was smashed for four consecutive boundaries by Manan Vohra.
Marlon Samuels: Samuels terrible run continued and he was dismissed for three runs. He got run-out when he was looking for two runs. In last match, he scored just five runs and had a terrible outing with ball too. It looks like that Mathews is doing much favour to Samuels rather than roping in much deserving Steve Smith who was the highest run-getter for Pune Warriors during the last edition of IPL.
By Amit Chopra
Indian Sports News Network