Kings XI, a last ball Kings

Coming into the last match of IPL V at the PCA Stadium, Kings XI Punjab, despite having won half of their 12 fixtures, found themselves third from the bottom in the points table.

Hardly surprising, given the rather unconvincing manner of their wins — in four of them, their bowling proved to be just about adequate to defend totals that ranged between mediocre to reasonable. In the other two, they were chasing totals that were not very big by any yardstick.

The lack of a pace-setter at the start — their top three run-getters, Mandeep Singh, Shaun Marsh and David Hussey, all have strike rates in the 120s — was hurting them.

In their return match against the Deccan Chargers, KXIP brought back Ryan Harris in place of David Miller, their only batsman this season with a 150 plus strike rate.

Joining his captain with 42 needed off 20 balls, Gurkeerat should have given Hussey most of the strike.

However, the KXIP were left needing 16 to get off Manpreet Gony’s last over, which became 13 off four balls.

Facing his state senior, Gurkeerat slogged Gony for six, lofted him over cover for four, drove him straight for a couple and neatly finished off with a fine hook.

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