Mandeep Singh and Praveen Kumar kept KXIP

Young Mandeep Singh and wily Praveen Kumar kept Kings XI Punjab in IPL-V contention as they starred in their team’s 25-run win over the lowly Deccan Chargers on Tuesday. The victory pulled Punjab up to fifth place on the points table, one spot below Rajasthan Royals - who also have 12 points but a superior Net Run Rate.

At Uppal’s Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Punjab were sent in to bat by Kumar Sangakkara and rode on Man of the match Mandeep’s responsible 48-ball 75 to post 170-5. The visiting side then scuppered Deccan’s chase by making frequent inroads into the batting card. 

Skipper David Hussey – Punjab’s lucky talisman – pretty much decided the game when he took out a well-set Daniel Harris and the dangerous Cameron White in the space of four deliveries of off-spin, and when Sangakkara fell in the next over to Praveen, the chase was going only one way: downhill.

Praveen had earlier foxed Shikhar Dhawan with one that shaped away from the left-hander, a few overs before Parthiv Patel was bowled by Parvinder Awana. Another implosion in the lower order – after Hussey’s double strike - arrested Deccan’s chase on 145-8, all but irremediably reserving a basement slot for the luckless team this season. Praveen finished his quota of four overs with two for 15, and Hussey’s brace of scalps cost him just two runs.

Earlier, Mandeep’s second half-century of IPL-V took Punjab to 170-5, ten runs more than the 160 that Deccan skipper Kumar Sangakkara had said was par for the venue. The most prolific scorer of the season for Punjab, Mandeep took off an incline plundering 18 off Veer Pratap Singh in the second over. Not once did the 20-year-old did not allow the run-rate to dip.

Although Dhawan provided the breakthrough Chargers were looking for when he castled Shaun Marsh, Punjab by then were already going at a comfortable eight-an-over. And despite a regular exit policy being practiced by batsmen at the other end, Mandeep stuck to his guns, dispatching Daniel Harris over cover to bring up his half-century in 33 balls, and then targeting Amit Mishra for a couple of more boundaries.

But the bowler who suffered most at Mandeep’s hands was seamer Veer Pratap Singh, who conceded 35 in 16 deliveries to the solid opener, who was finally bowled trying to slog Ashish Reddy in the 16th over. In the next over, Azhar Mahmood was run-out after a mix up with David Miller, but the South African atoned for the dangerous Pakistani’s dismissal by providing Punjab the late thrust. Miller’s 18-ball 28 was laced with three fours and a six off Reddy in the last over of the innings.