Kings XI Punjab 143 for 8 (Nair 34, Plunkett 3-17, Boult 2-21) beat Delhi Daredevils 139 for 8 (Iyer 57, Rajpoot 2-23, Mujeeb 2-25) by four runs
Delhi Daredevils rung in five changes, limited a Chris Gayle-less Kings XI Punjab batting line-up to 143 for 8, but they ultimately lost a last-ball thriller and remained rooted to the bottom of the points table. That it was a last-ball thriller was down to some sloppy batting and the brilliance of 17-year-old mystery spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Shreyas Iyer. Despite wickets tumbling around him in the chase, Iyer kept the scorecard ticking and took the game deep, Dhoni style. It was down to one man v another: Mujeeb v Iyer, with the equation reading 17 off six balls.
The first ball was a quick fizzer, which cramped Iyer for room and hit his thigh pad. Iyer then stood still against the second ball – a short dart outside off – and flat-batted it over Mujeeb’s head for a six. He hit the third to long-off, refused the single, and hoicked the fourth to deep midwicket for two to retain the strike and narrow the equation to nine off two balls. Iyer then ventured down the track and squirted a four to the right of short fine leg to leave Daredevils needing five off the last ball. Mujeeb speared it flat and wide outside off, and Iyer could only drag a catch to long-off.
Gautam Gambhir, who was looking forward to his homecoming in Feroz Shah Kotla as Delhi Daredevils captain, was literally left gobsmacked, while Kings XI Punjab found a new hero in Mujeeb and displaced Chennai Super Kings from the top of the table. (Excerpt from ESPNcricinfo)
