Mohali, David Miller missed a half-century as Kings XI Punjab were restricted to a chaseable 166/9 by Delhi Capitals in their Indian Premier League (IPL) clash here on Monday.
Put into bat, Miller (43; 30b, 4×4; 6×2) looked good during his stay at the crease but lost his wicket at a crucial juncture with the Punjab scoreboard reading 137/5 in 16.2 overs. From there on, the hosts could only manage 29 runs more with Mandeep Singh’s unbeaten 21-ball cameo of 29 helping them to go past the 160-run mark.
Mandeep hit a four and a six in the last two balls off Kagiso Rabada (2/32) who was excellent otherwise.
Sarfaraz Khan (39; 29b, 4×6) gave Miller good company as the pair stitched together 62 runs for the fourth wicket. Besides Rabada, Chris Morris (3/30) was simply fantastic, bowling a probing line along with Sandeep Lamichhane (2/27) who kept it tight at the start.
Punjab lost K.L. Rahul (15) early. After hitting two fours and a six, the World Cup hopeful flattered to deceive by getting trapped in front off Morris, a decision the right-hander chose to review unsuccessfully.
Sam Curran — replacing Chris Gayle — did not face a ball until the third over but once he did, the England all-rounder hit Avesh Khan for three fours in four balls.
The 20-year old southpaw looked to continue the fireworks by smacking Lamichhane for a six down the ground in the fourth over but the Nepal leggie had the last laugh, getting him out leg before with a faster delivery.
Mayank Agarwal (6) was run out just after the Powerplay with the team in a spot of bother at 58/2.
Sarfaraz and Miller then joined hands to steady the ship.
Sarfaraz, who has been impressive this season, played some elegant orthodox strokes and then topped it with a dinky scoop over the wicketkeeper off Avesh Khan before edging Lamichhane to Pant behind the stumps in the 14th over.
Once the partnerhip was broken, Punjab never really got going with Miller also getting foxed by a Morris off-cutter that the South African top-edged in the air only for Pant to complete the catch.
Rabada then got rid of Hardus Viljoen (1) while Morris sent skipper Ravichandran Ashwin (3) back in the hut.
Murugan Ashwin was also removed by Rabada while Mohammed Shami was run out.
Brief scores: Kings XI Punjab 166/9 in 20 overs (David Miller 43, Sarfaraz Khan 39; Chris Morris 3/30) vs Delhi Capitals
