IPL 6: KXIP vs KKR - Heroes of the Match

In a nail-biting finish that could have gone either way till the last ball, Preity Zinta came out smiling while Juhi Chawla was not as fortunate. In both innings it looked like KKR were running away with the game, but the Kings XI Punjab clawed their way back to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Towards the end of both innings, one man stood out for the Kings, and he is the first hero of the day:

Manpreet Gony (KXIP, 42 off 18, 4-0-18-1):

His all-round performance earned him the Man of the Match. He came in to bat after a hat-trick by Sunil Narine when Punjab were 99-7, and to say that he turned the match on its head is a gross understatement. He took his team to 157 with some assistance from Miller and Piyush Chawla, and destroyed Narine after his hat-trick. When he came in to bowl, he gave away only 18 runs off his quota of four overs, and got the important wicket of Gautam Gambhir. Also, by giving away only one run off the fifteenth over, he swung the match in Punjab’s favour.

Mandeep Singh (41 off 30):

Mandeep Singh opened the batting for the Kings XI Punjab along with captain Gilly, and gave them a much needed start to the innings. In a stellar batting display, he struck 6 fours in his innings and batted till the tenth over. He must also be commended for walking when he faintly nicked a ball from Kallis through to Bisla, showing that the IPL is not only a part of cricket, but also of the gentleman’s game as well.

Jacques Kallis (4-0-24-3):

Despite Sunil Narine’s hat-trick, Kallis was still KKR’s best bowler, mainly due to the 23 runs that came off Narine’s last over. He got the two very crucial wickets of Mandeep Singh and Manpreet Gony, and also the less important wicket of Praveen Kumar, giving him 3 overall. The only black spot on his performance was his batting, where he only scored 1 run off four balls.

Gautam Gambhir (60 off 39):

KKR’s captain led their batting from the front and, along with Eoin Morgan, rebuilt their innings after the two setbacks they had in the first two overs. He found the boundary 9 times in his innings, though none through the aerial route. He would be disappointed with the result, but no one can fault him for not giving it his all.

Eoin Morgan (47 off 38):

Morgan came to the show once again, and rebuilt the innings with Gambhir. He carried his form from the last match, and brought himself to the brink of the top five run getters’ list. His 104-run partnership with Gambhir put KKR on course, but unfortunately the two could not see their team to victory.

Azhar Mahmood (4-0-21-3):

Mahmood did his team proud by bowling Punjab to victory. Giving away only 5.35 runs per over, he took the important wickets of the dangerous Kallis and hard-hitting Morgan, with the scalp of Debabrata Das to boot. He gave away only 5 runs in the 18^th over to tilt the match in his team’s favour.

Special mentions: Sunil Narine for his hat-trick and Praveen Kumar for his bowling figures of 4-0-26-2