Marsh shines in big Punjab win

Two wickets off two no balls in Punjab's first two overs, established that luck was riding in Kings XI's direction and the home team ensured they made the most of it. After rampaging their way to huge total of 195 they made sure Rajasthan fell 48 runs short to register their third victory on the trot.

Earlier in the very first over of the game, Siddharth Trivedi got Gilchrist to edge a delivery back onto the stumps. Gilly began walking when the keeper collected the ball and dislodged the stumps as the umpire signaled a no ball. The rule book states that a batsman cannot be run out if he is walking because he thinks he is out. So instead of being back in the hut, the Punjab skipper was in with a free hit that he belted into the boundary.

In the next over Shaun Tait got dangerman Paul Valthaty to edge a delivery to Ross Taylor at third slip and everyone thought the law of averages had caught up with find of IPL 4. But the umpire went upstairs to check if Tait had his foot on the side line and yet again the batsman got a life because of a no ball.

From there on there was no looking back. Valthaty and Gilchrist launched into the Rajasthan bowling attack paying no attention to reputation or seniority. The assault was so ferocious that Punjab crossed the 50-run mark in just 2.5 overs.

It was no surprise when Warne brought himself on to bowl the 4th over. Gilchrist greeted his former teammate with a huge six off his second delivery and by the time he departed departed for 28 in the 5th over Punjab were on 67 and the damage to Rajasthan's confidence had been done.

Shaun Marsh walked in and took over where from where Gilchrist had left off - hitting boundaries at will and taking 21 off Warne's last over that included three humongous sixes. His innings of 71 came off just 42 deliveries.

At the other end, Valthaty continued to ride his luck with good measure. Two of his miscued shots into the air were dropped off consecutive balls, first by Shane Watson and then by Swapnil Asnodkar. He was out for 46 off 31 balls when another mistimed shot off Warne went down Tait's throat.

The Royals pulled things back and picked up some wickets after the 15th over to restrict Punjab to 195-8 after a score of 200 plus looked like a near certainty.

195 was still a tough ask - the tournament's highest total so far and Rajasthan were never quite in the game during their chase. Rahul Dravid hit two beautiful boundaries before giving too himself too much room to a ball from Ryan Harris that took an inside edge onto the stumps.

Swapnil Asnodkar departed soon after, clean bowled by Praveen Kumar. When Shane Watson was out after a quickfire 24, the writing was on the wall. Praveen was the pick of the bowlers for Punjab, giving away just 22 runs off his 4 overs and picking up those two wickets.

Taylor was then sent back for a duck and despite a partnership between Stuart Binny and Ashok Menaria, the Kings XI never really looked threatened. In the end, Rajasthan fell 48 runs short ending their innings at 147-7 and giving Punjab a comprehensive win - their third in a row.

Kings XI Punjab 195 for 7 (Marsh 71, Valthaty 46, Tait 3-22) beat 

Rajasthan Royals 147 for 7 (Praveen 2-22, Bhatt 2-20) by 48 runs

All-Round Valthaty gives Punjab comprehensive win

Its not everyday you outscore and outpace Adam Gilchrist two games in a row. It's also not everyday that you join Sachin Tendulkar at the top of the run-getters list in a tournament. Paul Valthaty is having a special time in the IPL and Kings XI Punjab are benefitting from it.

After 120 against Chennai in the last game, Valthaty took 4-29 bowling seam-ups and then hammered 75 in 47 to give Deccan Chargers yet another defeat at home. Deccan's respectable score of 165 seemed 50 runs short when Gilchrist (61) and Valthaty smashed all their bowlers with no prejudice.

The openers added 136 in 14 overs, got out, but left enough overs for the middle order to wrap up the chase smoothly.

Valthaty has ensured he won't be a one-hit wonder at the IPL. He was the seventh bowler used by Gilchrist today. He bowled split-finger slower balls and claimed the wickets of Shikhar Dhawan (45), Bharat Chipli (14), Daniel Christian (30) and Amit Mishra (0).

That wasn't enough for the cricketer from Mumbai. So he took two fours off Dale Steyn to start his innings. Then he slashed Ishant Sharma for six. And when MS Gony came on for his first over, Valthaty took four fours and a six from it.

You have to be playing a special hand when Gilchrist turns over the strike to you. At one point Gilchrist was on 15 to Valthaty's 39. The Punjab captain caught up with him, going past his fifty first.

The feature of their batting was their monstrous hitting. Pace or spin, Deccan's bowlers were being regularly deposited several rows back into the crowd, sometimes in the second tier.

In the course of the onslaught, Valthaty equalled Tendulkar's tally of 201 runs in the tournament but got out next ball.

Gilchrist and Valthaty have now emerged as the most destructive pair in the tournament alongside Delhi's David Warner and Virender Sehwag, who're yet to have a good game together. If Punjab keep up this act, and Gilchrist is known to mould winning teams, they could go all the way this year.

Kings XI Punjab166 for 2 (Valthaty 75, Gilchrist 61) beat Deccan Chargers 165 for 8 (Dhawan 45, Sangakkara 35, Valthaty 4-29, McLaren 2-33) by eight wickets

Valthaty ton pulls off superb chase

Unheralded Paul Valthaty, who struck a blistering unbeaten 120 to steer Kings XI Punjab to victory over defending champions Chennai Super Kings, described his knock as a "dream come true" which has put his career back on track. 

"To be honest it was a belter of a track. It is a dream come true to score a century. Everything was perfect today," man-of-the-match Valthaty said at the presentation ceremony after Kings XI defeated Chennai Superkings by six wickets. 

The 27-year-old Valthaty said he had prepared hard for the Indian Premier League for the last few months and that he was happy to see his efforts pay dividends. 

"I had prepared well for the IPL and it paid off today. I will never forget that moment (of scoring the century). It meant a lot to me," he said. 

Valthaty also thanked the team owners and his colleagues for supporting him. "I made it to the India A squad in 2009 but could not play because of an eye injury. The team has supported me right through. I am happy that I could justify the faith reposed on me." 

Our bowling could have been better: Dhoni 

Chennai Super Kings captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said his team did well to recover from a poor start and post a competitive total but the bowling could have been "a little smarter". 

"We have to learn the lessons from this game. We had a competitive total but they batted very well. Valthaty was brilliant and he really took the game away from us", Dhoni said. 

Dhoni said that dropping a few catches also proved quite costly for his team. "We dropped a few catches which hurt us. Our bowling could have been better. But we have to learn and be prepared for the next game." 

It was a much-needed win: Gilchrist 

A beaming Kings XI captain Adam Gilchrist heaped praise on Valthaty, saying it was an amazing innings. 

"We had a lot of faith in him and he delivered today. It was an amazing knock," Gilchrist said. 

"It was a good batting track. The bowlers just could not err in line and length. For us, it was a terrific all round display. We needed such a win", he added. 

Kings XI Punjab 193 for 4 (Valthaty 120*) beat 

Chennai Super Kings 188 for 4 (Vijay 74, Badrinath 66*) by six wickets

Pune Warriors thrash Kings XI on IPL debut

Navi Mumbai: An audience poll at the start of the match asked if Kings XI Punjabwere the weakest team in the tournament. Around 64 percent said yes. Ten minutes into the game having elected to bat, Kings XI showed why.

Pune Warriors' new-ball pair of Alfonso Thomas and Shrikant Wagh reduced Kings XI to 9-4 in the fourth over. There was extra bounce and movement at the DYP Stadium wicket and there were a couple of bad shots. The chase for 112 was completed in the 14th over for the loss of three wickets. But the contest had already ended ten minutes into the match.

Yuvraj Singh's return to IPL captaincy and Pune Warriors' debut couldn't have been scripted better. Set 113 for the win, Pune lost three wickets in the process with Yuvraj and Robin Uthappa taking them home.

Alfonso bounced Gilchrist fourth ball of the game. Gilchrist gloved it to Robin Uthappa and then walked. In Wagh's first over, Shaun Marsh flicked a loose ball straight to fine leg.

In his next over, Alfonso bowled a short one to Paul Valthaty. The ball bounced higher than expected and Valthaty couldn't keep it down as the ball went for an easy catch to point. In the next over, Wagh bowled a short, wide one to Dinesh Karthik, who too couldn't control the upper-cut as it flew into third-man's lap for another easy catch. Wagh celebrated by pointing a finger to his head. He had outthought the batsman.

Ryan McLaren, the South African all-rounder, prolonged Kings XI's fight by making 51. The left-handed batsman and right-arm seamer had found no takers at the player auctions in January. But after Stuart Broad and Dmitri Mascarenhas pulled out of the IPL with injuries, Punjab bought him. For this game, it proved to be an invaluable move.

McLaren 35 with Piyush Chawla after they had slipped to 45-6. Some late big hitting took them into three-figures which had looked unlikely earlier.

Pune's chase began poorly when, first ball, Graeme Smith drove an out-swinging, full delivery fromPraveen Kumar to cover's hands. The only period where Pune were in some discomfort was during Abhishek Nayar's spell. The seamer was getting some movement and he had Mithun Manhas caught behind.

Punjab then dropped two catches off Nayar. Uthappa was put down in the cover by Nathan Rimmington. Yuvraj was missed by Karthik at slip. Having survived a couple of tight overs from Nayar, Yuvraj and Uthappa quickly completed the chase.