DURBAN, (Reuters) – A fine all-round performance by Yuvraj Singh was not enough to prevent Kings XI Punjab slumping to an eight-run loss against the Bangalore Royal Challengers in the Indian Premier League (IPL) yesterday.
Punjab captain Yuvraj took a hat-trick to help restrict Bangalore to 145 for nine at Kingsmead before blasting a superb half-century only to see his side lose two wickets in the last over of their innings to finish on 137 for seven.
Punjab began the last over of their innings needing 13 runs to win but medium pacer Praveen Kumar held his nerve to allow a single boundary and capture two wickets.
Yuvraj earlier removed Robin Uthappa (19) and Jacques Kallis (27) with the fifth and sixth balls of the 11th over before trapping Mark Boucher lbw with the first ball of the 13th for the first hat-trick of this season’s IPL and the fourth overall.
India’s Yuvraj claimed figures of 3-22, while left-arm seamer Yusuf Abdulla captured 4-36 making him the leading wicket-taker in this year’s IPL with 13 wickets in six matches.
Right-handed South African Roelof van der Merwe rescued Bangalore’s innings with a blazing cameo of 35 off 19 balls with three fours and three sixes after Bangalore had been reduced to 84 for six after Yuvraj’s three-wicket burst.
Yuvraj, who had opened the batting for Punjab, struck a quick-fire 50 off 34 balls with three fours and four sixes in a first-wicket stand with Karan Goel (20) of 70 runs off 60 balls. However, Bangalore’s bowlers fought back with Kumar, leg spinner Anil Kumble and left-arm spinner van der Merwe ending with two wickets apiece as Punjab lost five for 67 runs.
The result lifts Bangalore to fifth place with six points from seven games, two off the pace set by Deccan Chargers, while Punjab stay fourth on six points having played six matches.
Earlier, an unbeaten half-century from JP Duminy helped the Mumbai Indians to a nine-run win over the Kolkata Knight Riders. The result moved Mumbai up to third place on seven points while Kolkata remained rooted to the bottom with just three points.
Duminy scored 52 not out off 37 balls with four sixes and a boundary as Mumbai posted 148 for six before restricting Kolkata to 139 for six in East London.
Opening batsman Sachin Tendulkar got Mumbai off to a decent start with a score of 34 off 30 balls before the elegant Duminy provided Mumbai’s innings with some much needed momentum.
His team had struggled to 96 for five after 15.5 overs at a run-rate of slightly over six runs to the over.
Kolkata came in and looked in control of the match thanks to an 89-run third-wicket partnership off 77 balls from Australian Brad Hodge and South African Morne van Wyk (32).
But when the right-handed Van Wyk was caught at long-on in the 15th over and Hodge was run out for 73 off 60 balls with five fours and three sixes after 19 overs Kolkata’s fate was sealed. Mumbai seamer Zaheer Khan finished with 3-31.
