20 overs Kings XI Punjab 221 for 3 (Marsh 115, Hopes 51, Yuvraj 49) v Rajasthan RoyalsLive scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsHow they were out
Shaun Marsh ended Kings XI Punjab's campaign in the league stages on a high (file photo) © Getty Images
A top-of-the-table clash lost a bit of its sheen with Shane Warne, the Rajasthan Royals' captain, taking a break, but perhaps it was another masterstroke to watch on from the dugout as Kings XI Punjab's top order blasted their way to 221 for 3.
Shaun Marsh led the way for Punjab with a 69-ball 115, James Hopes' 51 provided him support in a century stand, before Yuvraj Singh finally found his rhythm with a blistering 49. Rajasthan were insipid in Warne's absence, and surely missed both him and Sohail Tanvir, the tournament's best bowler, as Marsh teed off from the word go. Shane Watson had taken over the captaincy, but Marsh started by spanking two wide deliveries off him for boundaries through the off side.
The cut, pull and the lofted straight drive were seen aplenty, as Marsh went past Gautam Gambhir to become the tournament's leading run-getter. Munaf Patel delivered the ball and a short stride later the ball sailed over his head for six, a trademark Marsh shot. Rajasthan's bowlers were guilty of bowling short and wide, and Watson was duly carted over midwicket and cut fiercely off consecutive as Marsh let no opportunity get away.
At the other end, Hopes got the occasional boundary while letting his partner take most of the strike, and he had to take some evasive action as Marsh blasted one off Watson that went right under his legs. The Powerplay overs fetched 51, but there was no respite for Rajasthan as Pankaj Singh was taken for 17 in the seventh: Marsh clobbering one over midwicket, before lacing the next through extra cover.
Marsh took a single off Dinesh Salunkhe's first ball to become the tournament's leading run-scorer, and a rank bad ball was blasted through midwicket to bring up his fifty. At 88 for 0 after ten overs, the Mohali crowd were set for a treat from their batsmen, and Hopes set off as Punjab looked to build an imposing score. He got three boundaries off Siddharth Trivedi in the 11th over, and Yusuf Pathan's offspin was slog-swept into the stands en route to his fifty, which came 30 deliveries.
Yusuf then got punished by Marsh: he was flat-batted over long-on for four, before stepping down the track for to send one sailing over long-on. Yusuf got a breakthrough as Hopes holed on to deep midwicket, but that was just a brief respite as Yuvraj Singh came up with a blitz that was surely the knockout blow.
Two quiet overs saw only 16 runs, but Pankaj was ripped apart for 25 as Marsh began the march towards his hundred. A six over the bowler's head saw him move to 97, and a single later in the over brought up the sixth century of the IPL. The pressure was getting to Rajasthan's fielders and bowlers, and Yuvraj cashed in: he swivelled around to pull one for six, before dispatching one through square leg.
Had Yuvraj had been on strike first-up for the next over from Trivedi, there was a high chance that there would have been a repeat of the six sixes off Stuart Broad in the World Twenty20. Unfortunately, he got just three, and it would have been a good idea for the crowd to get hold of a few helmets.
Yuvraj nearly hit six in a row, off consecutive deliveries, though. He hit five before he was run-out off the last ball of the innings. Marsh had fallen earlier in the over, but Punjab were way past the par score of 180 initially suggested by Warne. Rajasthan have pulled off some stunning wins earlier in the tournament, but another one looks highly unlikely.
TeamsKings XI Punjab: 1 Shaun Marsh, 2 James Hopes, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 4 Luke Pomersbach, 5 Yuvraj Singh (capt), 6 Irfan Pathan, 7 Wilkin Mota 8 Piyush Chawla, 9 Ramesh Powar, 10 Sreesanth, 11 VRV Singh.
Rajasthan Royals: 1 Kamran Akmal, 2 Yusuf Pathan, 3 Younis Khan, 4 Shane Watson (capt), 5 Mohammad Kaif, 6 Niraj Patel, 7 Mahesh Rawat (wk), 8 Dinesh Salunkhe, 9 Pankaj Singh, 10 Siddharth Trivedi, 11 Munaf Patel.
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