Daredevils downed as Finch keeps cool
AARON Finch took the winning catch as Kings XI Punjab claimed a dramatic last-ball win over fellow Australian Glenn Maxwell’s Delhi Daredevils to go top in the Indian Premier League.
Delhi, chasing 144 to win, needed five runs off the final delivery, but as Shreyas Iyer went for the glory hit he holed out to Finch at long off, leaving his side beaten by four runs and bottom of the table with just one win from five matches.
For the last over, Punjab skipper Ravichandran Ashwin had given the ball to 17-yearold spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman of Afghanistan with Delhi needing 17 for victory. Rahman conceded 0-6-0-2-4, but Finch made sure when he claimed Iyer’s hit with a fine reverse-cupped take.
“If we were serious about winning, this is a game we needed to win,” Ashwin said. “They wanted to attack, which fell into our hands.”
Punjab was without West Indies blaster Chris Gayle at the top of the order, rested after three big knocks in his team’s three successive wins.
The other in-form Punjab opener, Lokesh Rahul, (23) fell inside the batting powerplay when he tried to scoop Englishman Liam Plunkett (317) but was caught at short fine leg. Karun Nair (34) and Mayank Agarwal (21) both got starts before falling to Plunkett, who made a dream debut in Delhi’s four-man seam attack. Seamers Trent Boult (2-21) and Avesh Khan (2-36) also picked up wickets as Punjab lost them at regular intervals to slip to 8-143.