Punjab, Lucknow boost play-off hopes, Delhi knocked out of IPL

Opener Prabhsimran Singh hit his maiden IPL century to set up a 31-run win for Punjab Kings and push Delhi Capitals out of the play-off race on Saturday, while Lucknow Super Giants beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by seven wickets. Sunrisers batsman Heinrich Klaasen was docked 10 percent of his match fee for showing dissent after a controversial no-ball call that sparked the home crowd to shout abuse at the Lucknow dug-out.

The match was briefly stopped as the umpires spoke to the Lucknow bench, including an animated coach Andy Flower, whose team moved back into the top four. Klaasen admitted to the Level 1 Offence under Article 2.7 which states the use of public criticism/inappropriate comment in the IPL’s Code of Conduct. Article 2.7 states, “Without limitation, Players and Team Officials will breach Article 2.7 if they publicly criticise the Match Officials or denigrate a Player or Team against which they have played in relation to incidents which occurred in a Match.”

The breach seems to have been caused by Klaasen saying in a mid-innings chat with the broadcasters, “Some not-so-great umpiring decisions being made but that’s part of the game and you have to get over it and go on with life,” while talking about crowd disruption in innings caused for nearly 10 minutes after a no-ball was reversed by Lucknow on review. In the second game of the day, Punjab kept their play-off hopes alive after Prabhsimran brilliant maiden century, followed by spin domination of Harpreet Brar and Rahul Chahar led Punjab Kings to win over Delhi at Arun Jaitley Stadium.

Opener Prabhsimran’s maiden IPL century (103 off 65) guided Punjab Kings to a competitive 167/7 in 20 overs. Punjab were struggling at 45/3 but Prabhsimran stitched a vital stand of 72 runs off 54 balls for the fourth wicket with Sam Curran to get them out of trouble. On the other hand, Ishant Sharma was the most successful bowler for Delhi Capitals with his 2-27. In reply, despite having solid Power-play, Delhi Capitals struggled against spin choke, implemented by Harpreet (4-30) and Chahar (2-16) and suffered another loss in the season. “The way we brought the game back was amazing,” Punjab skipper Shikhar Dhawan said.

“Credit goes to the spinners and then the fast bowlers for closing it out.” Punjab moved to sixth in the 10-team table led by holders Gujarat Titans. Delhi remain bottom of the heap and are out of the running. Warner seemed to have taken the game away with his power hitting but Brar led the spin charge, removing Phil Salt for 21 as Delhi slipped from 69-0 to 88-6. Leg-spinner Rahul Chahar joined in to trap Mitchell Marsh lbw before Brar struck twice in an over to dismiss Rilee Rossouw and Warner, who registered his 60th IPL fifty.

Warner said his team had “found the right combination” during the tournament after a nightmare start. In Hyderabad, Indian batsman Prerak Mankad’s 64 and a series of key partnerships including an unbeaten 58-run stand with Nicholas Pooran, who hit a 13-ball 44, steered the team’s successful chase of 183 with four balls to spare. Mankad first set the pace with a 73-run partnership with Marcus Stoinis, who hit a 25-ball 40.

Mankad raced to his maiden IPL fifty before West Indies international Pooran smashed three consecutive sixes in a 31-run over to start his sparkling innings. Earlier, Hyderabad’s Abdul Samad, who hit an unbeaten 37 in a 58-run stand with Klaasen, received a waist-high delivery that was called a no-ball by the on-field umpire but overturned on review.

The delivery appeared to be above the batsman’s waist but the review went in Lucknow’s favour, cancelling out the run and the free hit, with the home crowd venting their anger. “Disappointed by the crowd to be honest, that’s not what you want,” said Klaasen after his 29-ball knock. “That also broke the momentum, not great umpiring either, but you can’t take matters in your own hands.”

Agencies