Ravichandran Ashwin, Kings XI Punjab skipper, 'mankaded' Jos Buttler, inflicting a massive blow on Rajasthan Royals in their chase of 185 runs at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur, on Monday night. Jos Buttler had given Rajasthan Royals a flying start in their run-chase and looked unstoppable after scoring his seventh half-century in the Indian Premier League (IPL). However, spinner Ravinchandran Ashwin put an end to Buttler's stay at the crease with one of the most controversial dismissals ever seen in the history of the IPL. After Ravichandran Ashwin dismantled the bails, Punjab made an appeal for 'mankading'.
The Punjab captain exchanged a few words with Buttler, who was clearly out of the crease. The spinner paused before delivering the ball and took the bails off. The third umpire gave the England batsman out. Kings XI Punjab went on to register a 14-run win over Rajasthan Royals, who were restricted to 170 for nine in the chase.
"You are not in the crease and you've been upsetting my rhythm," an animated Ashwin said in the heat of the moment. Buttler, who didn't get any warning before, was furious while walking back to the dressing room. While some lauded Ashwin's smart dismissal on Twitter, many called it "cheating".
Earlier, a fiery knock of 47-ball 79 by Kris Gayle guided Kings XI Punjab to 184-4. Gayle, who came into the IPL after a cracking outing against England, went hammer and tongs at the Royals bowlers, who were left wanting for answers. Put in to bat, Punjab required a good start, but that did not happen as they lost opener KL Rahul for just four runs. The onus, obviously, was on the vastly experienced Gayle and he did not disappoint. Pairing with India’s young but highly talented, Mayank Agarwal, Gayle stitched a 56-run partnership on the second wicket to ensure there was no slip-up.
If Gayle went for his shots, Mayank held fort at the other end. Known for his patience and cool demanour, Mayank kept the scoreboard ticking before being caught by Dhawal Kulkarni at long-off off his state-mate Krishnappa Gowtham for 22.
But even after his exit, there was no stopping Gayle. He partnered with young Mumbai batsman Sarfaraz Khan, who played an unbeaten knock of 46 to keep the momentum going. Gayle walked up to him every now and then and advised a thing or two. That worked as the duo added 84 runs for the third wicket. That certainly set the tone for Kings XI Punjab.
Brief scores: Kings XI Punjab: 184 for 4 in 20 overs (Chris Gayle 79, Sarfaraz Khan 46 not out, Mayank Agarwal 22; Ben Stokes 2/48) Rajasthan Royals 170 for 9 (Buttler 69, Samson 30; Mujeeb 2-31, Curran 2-52, Rajpoot 2-33)
Russell muscle powers KKR
It was not the perfect start by Kolkata Knight Riders’ bowlers. But Andre Russell made a perfect finish with the bat to give the side a winning start to their IPL-12 campaign as they humbled Sunriseres Hyderabad by six wickets at the Eden Gardens on Sunday. It looked almost a lost cause for the hosts till the big West Indian walked in the middle with KKR needing 68 off 27 balls while chasing 182 for victory. The early flourish was provided by Nitish Rana, who opened with Chris Lynn after David Warner’s strong 85 helped SRH post 181 for three on being asked to bat first by KKR skipper Dinesh Karthik, who called it right.
Although KKR lost Lynn early, an 80-run second wicket stand between Rana and Robin Uthappa steadied the innings. But a brief interruption due to power failure in one of the floodlight towers perhaps distracted Rana (68) who was trapped in front by Rashid Khan in the first ball after the stoppage. But then Russell took things in to his own hands as he hit pacer Siddharth Kaul for 19 runs in the 18th over and then collected 21 runs off SRH skipper Bhuvneshwar Kumar by hitting two sixes and two fours in the penultimate over to leave KKR needing 13 runs off the last over. Youngster Shubman Gill did the job for them as he hit Shakib Al Hasan for two sixes to take the side home with two balls to spare.
Pant sets Wankhede on fire
Rishabh Pant blazed away to an unbeaten 27-ball 78 and powered Delhi Capitals to a mammoth 213 for six against Mumbai Indians in their IPL opener. Pant raced to his half century in 18 balls, hitting seven sixes and as many fours at the Wankhede Stadium, which looked too small for the Delhi dazzler. Just 21, Pant smashed the world's best fast bowler, Jasprit Bumrah, for a few sixes as well. Pant, playing his natural game, mercilessly punished the Mumbai bowlers after South African Colin Ingram (47 off 32 balls) and Shikhar Dhawan (43 off 36 balls) pulled the visitors out of the rubble and laid the foundation of a big total with their 83-run stand for the third wicket.
Winning start to CSK
The 38-year-old Harbhajan Singh showed that he can be as lethal as ever with the ball to help Chennai Super Kings (CSK) begin their IPL title defence with a seven-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in Chennai. Sharing the new ball with seamer Deepak Chahar (4-0-17-0) in the IPL-12 opener, the veteran India offie wreaked havoc on RCB with a spell of 4-0-20-3 that included the scalps of skipper Virat Kohli (6), Moeen Ali (9) and AB de Villiers (9). Both Harbhajan and Chahar completed their quota of four overs each at the very beginning. Harbhajan’s spell broke the back of RCB, who eventually folded up for 70, the sixth lowest total in IPL history. The run chase wasn’t all that straightforward for CSK. Opener Shane Watson, who played out a maiden over against Yuzvendra Chahal first up, lost his patience in the leggie’s next over. The burly Australian was bowled for a 10-ball duck after a wild heave on the leg side off a full delivery.
Given the minuscule target, though, it was just a matter of soaking up the pressure on a sluggish pitch and the hosts did so effectively, winning with 14 balls to spare. Kohli’s boys, perhaps, made a blunder by picking only two spinners – Chahal and Moeen Ali – but there is little they could have done after the inept display of the batsmen.
