IPL: Irfan shines for Kings XI Punjab

Irfan Pathan struck a valuable 39 and then picked up two crucial wickets to fashion Kings XI Punjab's 27-run victory over Rajasthan Royals.

Riding on a 51-ball 60 by Kumar Sangakkara and an equally important 33-ball 39 by all-rounder Irfan, Kings XI Punjab first posted a modest 139 for six after electing to bat first and then restricted the Rajasthan Royals at 112 for seven in the stipulated 20 overs.

Chasing 140 to win, Rajasthan Royals lost half their side within seven overs for 36 runs, thanks to a disciplined piece of bowling by pacers, Irfan (2/26) and Yusuf Abdulla (3/21) and leg-spinner Piyush Chawla (2/22) in the Indian Premier League match on Sunday.

Irfan started the proceeding, striking twice in his very first over, removing openers -- Swapnil Asnodkar (3) and Graeme Smith (2) -- to leave the Rajasthan Royal struggling at nine for two in two overs.

Abdulla then followed Irfan's footsteps and dealt two more severe blows when he had Rob Quiney (7) and Dimitry Mascarenhas (4) back into the pavillion in his second over.

New man Yusuf Pathan (10) tried to break the shackles and hammered two fours in the fourth and sixth bowl off Irfan's second over. But he too perished at short fine leg off Piyush Chawla in the 6.4 over.

Chawla struck again in his second over, when he had Abhishek Raut (1) hold out at mid off to Ramesh Powar. Ravindra Jadeja (37) and skipper Shane Warne (34) kept the hopes alive with a 60-run partnership but with the run-rate rising every moment, Jadeja perished when his timbers were rocked by Abdulla in his second spell.

Earlier, Kings XI Punjab made a disastrous start, losing three crucial wickets of Karan Goel (0), Ravi Bopara (11) and skipper Yuvraj Singh (2) within a span of 6.1 overs with only 38 runs on board.

Sangakkara, Irfan help Punjab reach 139

Kumar Sangakkara (60 off 51 balls) and Irfan Pathan (39 off 33 balls) then combined together and stitched a valuable 75-run partnership to resurrect the Punjab's innings.

Sangakkara hit seven fours and a six, while Irfan's innings was studded with a couple of fours and equal number of hits over the rope.

Earlier, a terrible mixup resulted in opener Karan Goel's wicket with Ravindra Jadeja and Asnodkar completing the proceedings for the Royals.

Kamran Khan then dealt a severe blow to the Mohali team, removing Ravi Bopara who failed to negotiate his slower delivery and was caught at mid-on by Munaf Patel.

Coming into bat at such a crucial juncture, a lot was expected of Yuvraj but the skipper could last only three balls and was done in by an away swinging delivery of Munaf Patel. Munaf then removed Mahela Jayawardene (7) as his second wicket of the day when he had him caught at mid off by Kamran in his next over.

Munaf takes two wickets

Irfan then joined Sangakkara and the two steadied the ship with Pathan hitting the first six of the day off Shane warne just before the strategy break to post 60 in 10 overs.

The duo continued to play sensibly with Irfan involving in some occasional aggresive shots, which included a huge six over midwicket off Yusuf Pathan in the 14.1 over.

At 111 in 17 overs, Sangakkara brought up his fifth IPL fifty with a flat six over square leg off Warne in the first bowl of the 18th over.

Irfan then tried to step up the gas but completely missed Kamran's delivery which knocked off his stumps in the 19th over.

Sangakkara soon followed Irfan back to the pavillion, thanks to a sharp piece of work by wicketkeeper Mahesh Rawat.

For Rajasthan, Munaf scalped two for 24 runs, while Kamran bagged a couple of wickets giving away 15 runs.

Teams:

Kings XI Punjab: RS Bopara, K Goel, Yuvraj Singh (capt), KC Sangakkara (wk), DPMD Jayawardene, IK Pathan, RR Powar, WA Mota, PP Chawla, VRV Singh, YA Abdulla.

Rajasthan Royals: GC Smith, SA Asnodkar, AS Raut, RJ Quiney, RA Jadeja, AD Mascarenhas, M Rawat (wk), YK Pathan, captainSK Warne, MM Patel, Kamran Khan.

Scores: Kings XI Punjab 139/6 (Sangakkara 60, I.Pathan 39 ; Kamran Kahn 2/15, M.Patel 2/24) beat Rajasthan Royals 112/7 (R. Jadeja 37, Warne 34*; Y.Abdulla 3/21, Chawla 2/22, I. Pathan 2/26)