Mohali - Karanveer Singh claimed four cheap wickets as the Kings XI Punjab destroyed the Northern Knights by 120 runs in a Champions League T20 Group A match at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium on Friday, the supersport.com website reports.
Full scorecard
The leg-break bowler bowled 3.2 overs and claimed four wickets for just 15 runs as the Knights were bundled out for 95 in 15.2 overs in trying to chase down the 215 for five that the Kings XI posted after being sent in to bat first.
The Knights made a bad start when they lost Daniel Harris (nine) in the second over with the score on 10 but Kane Williamson (20) and Anton Devcich (28) soon got the chase back on track with a quick-fire 48 for the second wicket off just 26 deliveries which kept the men from Wellington on par with their opposition.
But then the wheels fell off when Williamson, who faced 15 balls and struck one four and a six, tried to scoop a ball from Thisara Perera (2-0-8-1) over his head but only managed to send the ball straight into the wicketkeeper’s hands.
Only one other partnership moved into double figures after that with the fourth-wicket stand between BJ Watling (eight) and Daniel Flynn (12) realising 12 runs in 14 balls.
The slow left-arm spin of Akshar Patel tied the batsmen up as he claimed 2-16 in his four overs. In fact, all three Punjab spinners were outstanding, with combined figures of 8.2-0-35-6.
Earlier, the Kings XI innings had been set up with an opening stand of 102 off only 55 balls between Virender Sehwag and Manan Vohra. Vohra was extremely venomous by smashing 65 runs off only 32 balls, which included eight boundaries and three maximums.
Sehwag faced 37 balls in scoring 52 with five fours and one six. David Miller once again played a gem of an innings at the back-end, ending undefeated on 40 off only 18 balls with five boundaries and one six while sharing in two good partnerships with George Bailey (18) and Wriddhiman Saha (two not out).
Miller and Bailey scored 37 runs off 21 balls for the fifth wicket while Miller and Saha added 27 undefeated runs off 11 balls for the sixth wicket.
Ish Sodhi and Scott Kuggeleijn were the pick of the Knights bowlers as the leg-break bowling of Sodhi realised two wickets for 37 runs in four overs while the right-arm medium-fast bowling of Kuggeleijn picked up two wickets for 34 runs in four overs.
The loss eliminates the Knights from the competition and sends the Kings XI to the top of the log and secures them a spot in the CLT20 semi-finals.
Teams:
Kings XI Punjab: V Sehwag, M Vohra, WP Saha (wk), GJ Maxwell, DA Miller, GJ Bailey (capt), NLTC Perera, AR Patel, Karanveer Singh, P Awana, Anureet Singh
Northern Districts: AP Devcich, KS Williamson, DJ Harris, DR Flynn (capt), BJ Watling (wk), DJ Mitchell, SB Styris, SC Kuggeleijn, TG Southee, IS Sodhi, TA Boult