Punjab overwhelm Kochi to keep top-four hopes alive
Punjab kept their cool at the end of both innings to overcome Kochi by 6 wickets and kept their hopes of a play-off berth alive. Punjab batted with lot of purpose to chase down the big target of 179 runs set by Kochi in a must-win encounter at the Holkar Cricket Stadium in Indore.
Kochi lost the plot when their run-of-the-mill bowlers were carted by batsmen all over the park and the dream of an IPL title is now all but over. Punjab have now equaled Kochi as far number of points are concerned (10 each) and by virtue of a better run rate are now stationed at number six in the league standings just behind Rajasthan.
Punjab lower order finally made a useful contribution to get their team over the line after the top order came out all guns blazing to keep up with the required rate, chasing the big total. Paul Valthaty and Adam Gilchrist tried their best to get off to a quick start but were dismissed within a space of 6 runs to peg back the chase a little bit. Then came Shaun Marsh, Punjab’s most consistent batsmen this season and he found an unlikely partner in the form of Dinesh Karthik who played a blinder to get his team near to the finish line. The duo put on 111 runs in less than 10 overs to put the chase on track. His 33 ball 69 runs were laced by 7 boundaries and five big hits over the ropes. He batted with such aggression that the usually fluent Shaun Marsh had to play second fiddle and scored 42 runs from 30 balls. However, they looked in some strife when Karthik went with 36 runs needed in 5 overs. Punjab were rewarded for persisting with David Hussey as he prevented any last minute hiccups with a composed knock of 21 runs.
Kochi bowlers though tried hard to rein in the batsmen but faulted by bowling a number of length deliveries. There were also far too many deliveries bowled on the batsmen’s pads which were easy pickings as runs came thick and fast for Punjab. RP Singh once again showed why he is so successful in this format. He grabbed all the four wickets to fall in the Punjab innings. Barring him, others were expensive and failed to make an impact.
Earlier, Kochi captain, Mahela Jayawardene rose to the occasion and played peach of a knock to power his team to a big total of 178 on a good batting strip. The openers got off to an absolute flier and added 93 runs in less than 9 overs. McCullum was aggressive in his 27 ball 32 while his partner Mahela was elegant in his trademark touch-play. Ravindra Jadeja who came to partner his skipper after the fall of first wicket didn’t set the stadium on fire, scoring run-a-ball 17. Englishman Owais Shah who made his first appearance for Kochi, played a 23-run cameo. At the other end Mahela continued to dominate with sublime stroke-play and was finally dismissed for 76 runs that came off just 52 runs. Kochi would have thought that their batting effort was enough but Punjab had other ideas.
Punjab bowlers did pull it back in the last 5 overs as Kochi looked all set for a total in excess of 200. Punjab bowled waywardly in the beginning to let the opposition batsman run away with the show. They constantly lost their radar and bowled as many as 19 wides. The good work done towards the end proved to be the difference between the two teams that needed this win very badly.Punjab have three more matches and can’t afford a single loss. So they have one more chance to keep their hopes alive.
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