The match that the Deccan Chargers and the Kings XI played in Mohali yesterday did not do any good to the Deccan as they are already out of the competition. But it sure did open the weaknesses of the Kings XI Punjab team for the other teams to think and plan. The Kings XI Punjab team however won this match by 6 wickets and with three balls still remaining. Shawn Marsh was awarded the man of the match.
The toss was won by the Kings XI Punjab team who chose to field first. Gilchrist and Gibbs gave a good start to their team with their opening. Deccan lost their first wicket in the form of Gibbs when they were on 79 runs in eleven overs. He made 44 runs off 55 balls. Gilchrist made 50 runs off 72 balls before his dismissal. Another half century was seen from the team by Rohit Sharma who made it off 33 balls. The team made a target of 176 runs for the Kings XI Punjab and in no ways acted like a typical dead team who is out of competition.
The Kings XI Punjab opened out with a better bang than their opponents. Shaun Marsh and Sangakkara played very good innings. The former made 66 runs while the latter got 50 runs. However, the middle order of the team, which includes Yuvraj could not take on the responsibility very well. It took two more wickets for the team for scoring the target which was achieved not very comfortably. Flaws in the middle order of the team and also in the fielding of the Kings team seriously need improvement if they want to survive the semi finals and move ahead to the final match.
