Sun, 08 May 2011 - IP Punjab vs IP Pune, IPL 2011, 51st Match - Bulletin

Pune finally gets a win, beat Punjab

Pune at last got something to fell happy about; they won a match in IPL-4 after seven successive defeats. Pune overhauled the modest target of 120 runs with 17 balls remaining. It was a similar story for Punjab, who squandered a decent start to post a below par total at their home ground where the strip offered pace and movement.

Punjab seem to be going the Pune way, this was their fifth consecutive loss. That would hurt, given that they had a very good start to the tournament. They now have to pull up their socks very soon to get their campaign back on track as time is running out fast.

Pune’s reply to the home team’s paltry total wasn’t flawless though. Jesse Ryder and Manish Pandey started aggressively unleashing a flurry of boundaries, before Ryder fell for 15. Robin Uthappa then combined with Pandey to push their team to a strong position, 69 in the tenth over.

Pune also followed the script of the Punjab innings to some extent losing wickets in a bundle. Although Yuvraj was leading the visitors, the local boy played an attractive cameo full of attacking shots. Punjab spinner, Bhargav Bhatt getting a taste of Yuvraj hitting, two balls from him landed over the ropes and two went along the ground.

The captain fell 4 runs short of the target and Abhishek Jhunjhunwala fell 2 balls later to give the crowd some joy albeit it came too late for the hosts. Among the Punjab bowlers, Praveen Kumar and Ryan Harris got some swing early on to trouble the batsmen but in the end they had too little on the score sheet.

Earlier, Punjab had only themselves to blame as they couldn’t utilize a decent platform to build a good score on a tolerable strip. Half-way through their innings, the hosts had got to 71 runs for the loss of 1 wicket. Shaun Marsh led the Punjab charge during the first half scoring at will. He scored 32 runs off 28 balls with three hits to the ropes and a big six over long-on.

This after the home skipper, Adam Gilchrist failed once again with two back to back ducks. Another danger man, Paul Valthaty threatened but briefly with nearly run-a-ball 23.

Once, Marsh departed trying to give some impetus to the scoring rate, the Punjab batting line up just petered out. They fell like nine pins trying to reach a big score. Punjab faltered as they aimed for too much but ended with too little.They probably thought about a score of 160 plus knowing that it is a good strip.

In the process, they lost wickets one after other, none of their last seven batsmen getting into double figures.

Among the Pune bowlers, leggie Rahul Sharma continued to impress, bowling a miserly spell of 4 overs conceding only 17 runs and dismissed both the Punjab openers. Overseas players Wayne Parnell and Mitchell Marsh provided him good support; Mitchell bowled his third delivery to brother Shaun who hit it for a four, no brotherly considerations here.