IPL 11, KXIP v DD as it happened: Rahul’s record fifty steers Punjab to easy win over Delhi

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“For years, I’ve been branded a Test cricketer. It’s good for me to be up there, creating history and breaking records. Hope to continue this way,” says KL Rahul after record fifty.

“We got a decent total, but the first six overs took the game away from us,” says Delhi captain Gautam Gambhir. “Credit to the bowlers to take it till the 19th over, I thought that was a tremendous effort. Once the ball got old, it was hard to clear the fence. 166 was a competitive total,” he added.

“The start Rahul got blew them away,” says Karun Nair. “The crowd turnout to set up the opening game was amazing. Hope to see more of this,” he added.

KXIP win by six wickets!
Stonis finishes it off with two boundaries. Ashwin wins his first game as skipper! His proactive approach in the field saw his side restrict the opposition to a modest total, before Rahul’s blitzkrieg put the game to bed early into their chase.

After 18 overs, KXIP 157/4. (They need another 10 runs off 12 balls),
KXIP are doing it easily now. Stoinis and Miller are staying ahead of the number of deliveries, but not really going for the risky shots. A clinical performance so far. Delhi need a miracle.

After 16 overs, KXIP 142/4. They need another 26 runs off 24 balls.
WICKET! Karun Nair departs. Looks to smash Christian for another six, but can’t get the lift required to place the ball over the mid-wicket boundary fence. Boult completes a fine low catch.
Nair c Boult b Christian 50 (33b, 4s: 5, 6s: 2).

FIFTY for Karun Nair! He brings it up with a six off Christian. He needed just 32 balls to get there. KXIP need just 29 runs off 28 balls.

After 14 overs, KXIP 126/3.
Karun Nair nears his half-century as KXIP inch closer to target. Delhi have brought the run-rate down, but KXIP need just 41 runs from the final six overs.

After 10.4 overs, KXIP 107/3.
100 up for KXIP! Karun Nair has picked up from where Rahul left off. Despite Yuvraj’s dismissal, Karun has continued his charge and is targeting a boundary an over.

After 9.2 overs, KXIP 97/3.
WICKET! Yuvraj gone! Looks to smash Tewatia out of the park, but misjudges the bounce and hits it straight to the deep mid-wicket fielder.
Yuvraj c Shankar b Tewatia 12 (22b, 4s: 2).

After 9 overs, KXIP 97/2.
Rahul’s blistering knock has placed KXIP comfortably in their chase of 167. The run-rate has come down, but Yuvraj and Karun are piecing together a steady partnership at the moment. Delhi need a breakthrough.

After 7 overs, KXIP 80/2 (Yuvraj 10*, Karun 12*).
Rahul’s dismissal has calmed things down, but the KXIP batsman are keeping the scoreboard ticking. Yuvraj and Karun Nair have settled down quickly. Delhi need wickets if they want to win from here.

After 5 overs, KXIP 64/2.
WICKET! Rahul departs! Respite for Delhi! Gets a top edge trying to swat Boult on the leg side. Shami completes the catch cleanly to end Rahul’s blistering knock.
Rahul c Shami b Boult 51 (16b, 4s: 6, 6s: 4).

After 3.2 overs, KXIP 56/1.
WICKET! Mayank Agarwal falls. Morris opens the account. Hits it straight to mid-on. Can’t keep the ball down. Some relief for DD, who have been clobbered by Rahul at the other end.

After 3 overs, KXIP 52/0.
Fifty up for KXIP and KL Rahul! This is the fastest fifty in IPL history! He reaches the mark in 14 balls. It’s Amit Mishra’s turn now to feel the wrath of Rahul’s bat. He smashes Mishra for two sixes and three fours!

After 2 overs, KXIP 28/0.
Rahul continues with his aggressive batting. He now targets Shami. Gets boundary and six of the second over. Rahul has now raced to 27 off 9 balls.

After 1 over, KXIP 16/0.
KL Rahul blasts Trent Bould for a six and two boundaries in the first over to get KXIP off to a rollicking start. He was lucky in getting that six off a top-edge, but the two boundaries that followed were quite fluent.

Morris delivered a few lusty blows at the death, but DD will rue the decision to not bring him up the order. Gambhir had laid a fine foundation, but his side lacked the firepower in the lower-order to take them to a big total. Ashwin-led Punjab bowling unit also did well in the middle-over to rein in the visitors. Mujeeb was impressive on debut. So was Ashwin in his captaincy debut. He was proactive in his field placements as well as in the way he shuffled the bowlers around. With the ball too he was quite clinical and did not concede a boundary in his four overs.

DD 166/7 in 20 overs.
WICKET! Christian is bowled off the last delivery of the innings. Kings XI will be happy with their effort. They did well to restrict DD to a modest total even after Delhi’s fine start led by skipper Gambhir’s fluent half-century.
Christian b Mohit 13 (13b, 6s: 1).

After 19 overs, DD 155/6.
150 up for DD. Christian gets a six in right in the end off a free-hit. Delhi were in desperate need of a big hit. They will want to finish strong here. Kings XI have done well to restrict them so far.

After 18 overs, DD 144/6.
Mujeeb finishes with figures of 4-0-28-2 on his IPL debut. Was a bold move by the team management to include the Afghan instead of Gayle. Skipper Ashwin, though, will be happy with the 17-year-old’s effort.

After 16 overs, DD 127/6.
WICKET! Ashwin gets his first wicket of the day. Tewatia looks for a reverse sweep, but is trapped in front. Ashwin has been sharp as captain so far. Has been proactive in his field placing. Has changed the bowlers smartly as well. As bowlers, has not been able to get a wicket yet, but has done well to contain the batsmen. Has used his experimental leg-breaks well today. He finishes with figures of 4-0-23-1.
Tewatia lbw b Ashwin 9 (7b, 4s: 1).

After 15 overs, DD 123/5.
WICKET! Gambhir is run-out! He departs for 55. Tewatia looks for a single, but Gambhir is two slow off the blocks. Could only manage to get his bat on the line. His resistance comes to an end. Huge breakthrough for Punjab. He was DD’s major contributor today, and they needed him to deliver some lusty blows in the fag end of the innings.
Gambhir run out (Mujeeb) 55 (42b, 4s: 5, 6s: 1).

After 14 overs, DD 118/4.
WICKET! Pant perishes trying to aerial. He’s beaten by the turn by Mujeeb and skies the ball in the air. Tye completes a difficult catch running behind from the inner circle. Crucial wicket for KXIP. Pant was looking dangerous and had begun freeing his arms.
Pant c Tye b Mujeeb 28 (13b 4s: 4, 6s: 1).

After 12 overs, DD 90/3.
Fifty for Gambhir! Has stood his ground even as the wickets fall at the other end. DD will want him to stay on for some time more. His teammates have struggled even as he has looked comfortable in the middle.

After 11 overs, DD 84/3 (Gambhir 46*, Pant 5*).
WICKET! Mohit Sharma beats Shankar by pace. He skies it in the air. DD lose their third wicket. Gambhir is sticking around at the other end, but could soon run out of partners.
Shankar c Axar b Mohit 13.

After 9 overs, DD 70/2 (Gambhir 43*, Shankar 8*).
Despite the wickets at the other, Gambhir is keeping the scorecard ticking and managing to get at least one boundary in every over.

After 7 overs, DD 54/2.
WICKET! Shreyas gone. Axar finally catches a break, gets a faint edge off Shreyas’ bat after being clobbered around the ground in the previous ten deliveries.
Shreyas c Rahul b Axar 11 (6s: 1).

After 6 overs, DD 44/1 (Gambhir 34*, Shreyas 4*).
Gambhir has gone on the offensive. He is looking well settled and primed for big one. Ashwin has been proactive and has changed bowlers in nearly every over. The hosts, though, have not been successful in keeping the runs in check.

After 4 overs, DD 30/1.
Gambhir goes after Axar. Dispatches the left-arm spinner for two boundaries and a six. Ashwin’s ploy to utilise the third spinner in four overs hasn’t been a complete success. Kings XI have now used four bowlers in as many overs.

After 2.3 overs, DD 12/1.
WICKET! 17-year-old Mujeeb is brought into the attack and strikes immediately! Munro attempts a reverse sweep and misses it completely. He is trapped plumb in front.
Munro lbw b Mujeeb 4.

After 1 over, DD 6/0.
Skipper Ashwin bowls the first over for Kings XI Punjab. Delhi’s openers - Gambhir and Munro see him off safely. There was a stumping appeal against Munro, but he had some part of his foot behind the crease.

Shami included in Delhi Daredevils’ playing XI.
Kings XI: Rahul (wk), Agarwal, Karun, Yuvraj, Miller, Stoinis, Axar, Ashwin (c), Tye, Mohit, Mujeeb Ur Rahman.
DD XI: Gambhir (c), Munro, Pant (wk), Shreyas, Morris, Shankar, Christian, Mishra, Tewatia, Boult, Shami.

Afghanistan’s Mujeeb Ur Rahman is set to become the youngest player to play in the IPL (17 years & 11 days). Sarfaraz Khan (17y, 177d) was the previous youngest.

Zadran honed his skills by watching Ashwin bowl on YouTube. Now he’s playing with him in IPL. Read the story of Mujeeb Zadran here.

Kings XI Punjab win the toss and will bowl first.

“There are a few nerves around me, have to accept it,” says KXIP captain R Ashwin.

“Lot of the overseas guys arrived late, we’ve worked hard on the Indian talent in the meanwhile,” says DD coach Ricky Ponting. “I’m pretty excited, the IPL has brought me back close to my playing days. I had a year off from the league in between. That has freshened me up,” he adds.

Just In: Glenn Maxwell won’t be available for Delhi today as he has yet to arrive in India, Coach Ricky Ponting confirms. Kings XI, meanwhile, will miss the services of Aaron Finch, who got married on Saturday.

A new look Kings XI Punjab under Ravichandran Ashwin will take on Delhi Daredevils in their opening encounter of IPL-2018 here tomorrow, as both sides look to begin the T20 tournament on a winning note.

This season, KXIP look a balanced side with Ashwin set for his first stint as captain of an IPL team. It has players of the calibre of Yuvraj Singh, Chris Gayle, David Miller, K L Rahul and Aaron Finch not to speak of the likes of Manoj Tiwary, Mohit Sharma, Axar Patel and Mujeeb-ur-Rahman.

Barring a few who have been retained, most of the domestic and some foreign players have joined the team this season.

Delhi Daredevils share similarities with Punjab team, as they too have struggled in the last few seasons.

DD’s head coach Ricky Ponting has exuded optimism and said that he doesn’t care about his team’s dismal record over 10 editions of IPL as he believes that the “fresh group” of players have it in them to win a maiden title this season.

The Gautam Gambhir-led side has an ideal mix of youth and experience. Gambhir has helped his previous outfit Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to clinch titles on two occasions.