May 21: Ordinary bowling, rubbish fielding and a peculiar decision at the toss to field first cost IPL-4 playoff aspirants Kings XI Punjab dear as they crashed to a massive 82-run defeat to Deccan Chargers in the two teams’ final league game at the HPCA Stadium here on Saturday.

The result was sweet revenge for the Bulls after the eight-wicket defeat the Kings had handed out to them at Uppal in Hyderabad on April 16 and took their tally of points to 12 and seventh place overall on the points table. The win also gave the Bulls their first hat-trick of victories for the season. Kings XI Punjab — after briefly threatening to spoil the party of the top four teams — finished fifth with 14 points.

After they had inserted the Bulls, the Kings attack was mauled in a 131-run first wicket stand between Shikhar Dhawan (95 not out) and D. Ravi Teja (60) before Amit Mishra joined the party with a hat-trick late into the Kings’ innings. Chasing 199 to win, Adam Gilchrist’s side were never in the running at any stage of the match. They lost the mercurial Paul Valthaty and form man Shaun Marsh by the third over, and from then on, the task was as arduous as any trek into the surrounding Dhauladhar ranges.

Gilchrist, who had only four days ago savaged the Royal Challengers Bangalore with a blistering 55-ball 106, played virtually a lone hand as his team collapsed into ruin around him. When the Kings skipper fell for 51 (37b, 6x4, 2x6) with 116 runs and nine overs still remaining in the chase, it was time for the Fat Lady to start her song.

Mishra (4/9) from four overs that included the hat-trick and a maiden as well, was joined in the mayhem on a helpful track by fellow-tweakers J.P. Duminy (1/23) and Pragyan Ojha (1/25). Dale Steyn and Daniel Christian were the other successful Chargers’ bowlers.

It was the season’s first hat-trick, Mishra’s second and the eighth overall in the IPL records. Earlier, Gilchrist’s inexplicable decision at the toss provided Dhawan and Ravi Teja the chance to notch up the Chargers’ best opening stand of the season, that also laid the foundation for a total that would prove to be beyond the Kings’ capabilities to chase down.

Dhawan’s unbeaten 95 (57b, 14x4, 1x6), his best score of the season, also set up the Bulls’ most fruitful opening stand of the season. The 131 he and Ravi Teja put on in just 13.2 overs bettered by far the 71 Dhawan had posted with Sunny Sohal against the Chennai Super Kings in Chennai back on May 1. With the butter-fingered Kings fielding giving Ravi Teja (60, 41b, 5x4, 2x6) life after life – Ryan Harris alone contributing twice – the Bulls openers settled in to take heavy toll.

They scored briskly — the run rate almost constantly hovering at the 10-per-over mark and even after Ravi Teja fell, Dhawan did not let up on the intensity, though he was unlucky to miss his hundred in the company of his captain, Cameron White.

SCOREBOARD
Deccan Chargers R B 4s 6s SR
S. Dhawan not out 95 57 14 1 167
D. Ravi Teja c Nayar b Valthaty 60 41 5 2 146
J. P. Duminy c Marsh b Harris 12 10 0 1 120
C. White not out 15 12 0 0 125
Extras: (lb 8, w 8) 16
Total (for 2 wickets; 20 overs) 198
FoW: 1-131, 2-158
Bowling: P. Kumar 3-0-26-0 (1w), R. Harris 4-0-35-1, B. Bhatt 3-0-33-0, P. Chawla 4-0-48-0 (1w), P. Valthaty
4-0-24-1 (1w), R. McLaren 2-0-24-0

Kings XI Punjab R B 4s 6s SR
P. Valthaty c Rajan b Steyn 5 6 1 0 83
A. Gilchrist c White b Christian 51 37 6 2 138
S. Marsh c Rajan b Duminy 13 8 3 0 163
K. Karthik c Teja b Christian 11 14 1 0 79
R. McLaren c Christian b Mishra 9 14 0 0 64
A. Nayar c Christian b Ojha 3 7 0 0 43
Mandeep Singh stumped 7 8 1 0 88
P. Chawla (run out) 13 7 0 2 186
R. Harris c Dhawan b Mishra 0 1 0 0 0
P. Kumar b Mishra 0 1 0 0 0
B Bhatt not out 0 5 0 0 0
Extras: (lb 4, w 2) 6
Total ( all out; 18.6 overs) 116
FoW: 1-9, 2-22, 3-83, 4-84, 5-91, 6-102, 7-102, 8-102, 9-104, 10-116
Bowling: J.P. Duminy 4-0-23-1, D. Steyn 3-0-13-1, A. Rajan 1.6-0-23-0 (1w), P. Ojha 3-0-25-1,
D. Christian 3-0-21-2 (1w), A. Mishra 4-1-7-4
Points: Deccan Chargers 2, Kings XI Punjab 0
Man of the match: Shikhar Dhawan