AGGRESSIVE INNINGS: Man of the Match Simon Katich set the stands on fire with a flurry of shots which made a mockery of the Delhi Daredevils’ attack Simon Katich’s savage counter-attack set up Kings XI Punjab’s four-wicket win over Delhi Daredevils in the DLF Indian Premier League to trigger off celebrations in the vociferous crowd at the PCA Stadium here on Sunday.

After Delhi managed to send back Punjab opener Karan Goel and the in-form Kumara Sangakkara with just 11 runs on the board, Katich almost single-handedly brought Punjab close to victory with a 52-ball 75 chasing Delhi’s 158 for eight in 20 overs. Kings XI skipper Yuvraj Singh then put the finishing touches with three deliveries to spare.
The result signalled Punjab’s second victory in four outings and Delhi’s first defeat in three games.
Katich, the Man of the Match who hit a six and 11 boundaries, added 58 runs with Mahela Jayawardene (15, two fours) for the third wicket in 5.5 overs and another 50 with Yuvraj (40 not out) before being run-out. When Katich was fourth out at 119, Punjab needed 40 runs in six overs.
Yuvraj, who hit three fours and two sixes, including an effortless strike off McGrath over long-off, then made sure he stayed till the end and finished the job with a boundary off Shoaib Malik.
Katich took the battle to the enemy’s camp in great style. He hit Glenn McGrath for two successive boundaries in the third and fifth overs. In between, he went after Mohammad Asif and smashed three boundaries in a row.
Earlier, Delhi pieced together a total that was far from safe, given the surface and Punjab’s batting depth. In an innings dotted with two sixes and 18 boundaries, only six overs produced more than 10 runs an over.
Unlike the last two matches, a good partnership at the start did not come and the in-form trio of Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag and Shikhar Dhawan were back in the pavilion in six overs with just 45 on the board.
Dhawan was unlucky to given caught behind. The television replays clearly showed the ball brushing the shoulder and no contact with the bat on way to Sangakkara.
That brought out Delhi’s middle-order for the first time in the competition. Shoaib Malik, like Gambhir, could not make the most of a good start. Manoj Tiwary stayed the longest for a 34-ball 39, including six boundaries.
With Karthik, Tiwari added 34 for the fifth wicket and another 37 for the sixth with Rajat Bhatia.
Karthik and Bhatia departed after raising visions of a sustained onslaught. Later Tiwari holed out to Yuvraj to become V.R.V. Singh’s third victim.
The medium pacer had earlier scalped Gambhir and Malik when the batsmen tried to give him the charge.
Irfan Pathan claimed two wickets while S. Sreesanth proved the most expensive, conceding 11 and 15 runs in his two overs.