New Delhi: Leg-spinner Amit Mishra returned with a brilliant four-wicket haul as Delhi Daredevils restricted Kings XI Punjab to a paltry 111 for 9 in their IPL match at the Feroze Shah Kotla stadium.
Mishra spun a web around Kings XI batsmen as he dismissed Shaun Marsh (13), David Miller (9), Glenn Maxwell (0) and Manan Vohra (32) to leave the visitors gasping for breath.
Apart from Mishra, Zaheer Khan (1/14), Chris Morris (1/19) and Jayant Yadav (1/23) were the other wicket-takers. For Punjab, Vohra emerged as the top-scorer with a 24-ball 32 studded with five boundaries but he did not get any support from the other end as wickets kept tumbling. Put into bat after Delhi skipper Zaheer Khan won the toss, Punjab lost their first wicket in the second over. It was Vohra, who escaped after Zaheer missed the catch but Murali Vijay (1) was run-out when he tried to steal a third run. Marsh, who was playing after recovering from sickness, then joined Vohra and the duo tried to steady the ship as Punjab scored 23/1 in 5 overs. West Indies all-rounder Carlos Brathwaite was then introduced into the attack and Vohra decided to go after him, hitting three fours to amass 14 runs off the over. Leg-spinner Amit Mishra was introduced into the attack and he straightaway struck with wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock disturbing the stumps when Marsh tried to dance down the pitch. Skipper David Miller hit a boundary in the second ball he faced off Mishra but the leg-spinner had the last laugh when he had him trapped in front of wicket in his next over to reduce Punjab to 52/3 in 8.1 overs. A lot was expected from Australia’s Maxwell but his attempt to hit a maximum ended with Brathwaite taking an impressive catch at long off. Mishra came back to haunt Kings XI when he completely foxed opener Vohra with another googly to dislodge his bails as Punjab lost half of their side in the 11th over. In the 13th over, Wriddhiman Saha (3) lost his wicket when he was found short of wicket by a direct through by J P Duminy from point, then Axar Patel too was sent packing by Jayant Yadav with Negi taking the catch. Mohit Sharma (15) produced a couple of lusty blows for a six and a four towards the end but it was too little too late. — PTI
