12:16am Whew. What a night. Thanks for joining us and don't forget to look out for all the content coming up from us, where the theme is likely to be us wondering what the hell has just happened. Good night!
Sam Curran: Just came out here trying to impress. Luckily we managed to scratch a score above 150 and the bowlers were superb. I have opened in school cricket but this is probably the first time in senior cricket. I didn't really know [about the hat-trick], the crowd was so loud, I couldn't hear my own thoughts. Ash told me to do what I do. Against the Iocal batsmen who I didn't know where they hit, I had to ask the other guys. So that can get tricky. But Shami got two amazing overs in the end which helped, and Ashwin's run-out. Hope we keep winning.
Sam Curran is the Man of the Match.
R Ashwin: I'd like to think [we got out of tail]. Not many times you defend that equation. We've seen Avesh bat before, Lamichhane bat before, so we just needed to hang on. We were 25 short. We backed ourselves to defend that with three spinners. But we lost too many wickets in the end. The dew came in, the outfield was quick, but we held on. We were going to bat first even if we'd won the toss. We wanted to give Sam the license to go out and bat. We thought there was a bit of grip in this pitch, but it didn't turn out. We'll see what happens. We're a team with youngsters and experience. We're having fun. And with some of the coaching staff, we have a good atmosphere. All credit to the fans - we couldn't even hear ourselves at the end.
Ryan Harris, KXIP bowling coach: We were 20-30 runs short. We said at the break that if we get Ingram and Pant, we're in the game. The rest is history I guess. Sam actually did the opposite of what we'd planned at the end, lot of voices in his ears and he ended up going full and straight. That's T20 sometimes. It's really hard to defend here, we've seen in the last couple of weeks. I think a bit of pace off the ball - bringing Sam - would help. In the end, we probably haven't nailed our starts with the ball, so if we start doing that, we should be hard to beat.
Iyer: Really disappoiinting. We didn't play smart cricket. They outplayed us in all departments. They were really cool and calm in that situation. I'm speechless. Losing such games is not going to help us at the end. It was really difficult to even see from outside, the batsmen not taking initiative. It's good that it happened early in the season, so we can learn from this. To be honest, we didn't bowl that well. They came really hard at us in the Powerplay. We defended really well after that. Mentally we need to train ourselves - we are getting good starts, need to finish better.
saran: "Million dollar boy for a reason"
Sundar S: "What the bloody hell just happened?"
James: "Curran Hatrick!
Seb: "Where are those experts who questioned s currens selection. It was his double wicket over that gave the first victory for KXIP this IPL. He doubled that performance today "
Harpreet: "Oh boy! We need to take a break from what has happened in the last few overs!"
11:51pm 7 for 8 in 17 balls. Let that sink in. From 144 for 3 chasing 167, run-a-ball needed with seven wickets in hand, Delhi Capitals have managed to snatch defeat here. Kings XI - Shami and Curran especially - were phenomenal in keeping the pressure applied the last two overs, but Pant, Morris, and Ingram will be kicking themselves for allowing the pressure to even seep in. Some serious introspection will happen in that dressing room. But for now - Kings XI Punjab have won their sixth consecutive game at Mohali. Not even they would have said it was likely 30 minutes ago. Ashwin showing up for his team - two wickets and a run-out that turned the momentum.
S Lamichhane b Curran 0 (1m 1b 0x4 0x6) SR: 0
K Rabada b Curran 0 (8m 1b 0x4 0x6) SR: 0
The door is shut and once again Kagiso Rabada is tasked with finding the keys. Sam Curran will bowl the 20th. Fine leg in, third man in. Point and extra cover in the circle.
END OF OVER:19 | 4 Runs 1 Wkt | DC: 152/8 (15 runs required from 6 balls, RR: 8.00, RRR: 15.00)
- Avesh Khan4 (3b)
- Kagiso Rabada0 (0b)
- Mohammed Shami4-0-27-2
- Sam Curran2-0-11-2
Avesh Khan. Not as good a batsman as Amit Mishra, who he replaced today. Can he produce some magic here?
GH Vihari b Mohammed Shami 2 (12m 5b 0x4 0x6) SR: 40
Ras: "Oh boy! How the Kings have clawed their way back into the game, one wicket at a time. And Delhi just going bust here! "
Siddarth: "Any win percentages don't matter in Cricket maybe. That's the beauty of this game. "
END OF OVER:18 | 4 Runs 2 Wkts | DC: 148/7 (19 runs required from 12 balls, RR: 8.22, RRR: 9.50)
- Hanuma Vihari2 (2b)
- Sam Curran2-0-11-2
- Mohammed Shami3-0-23-1
Bhardwaj: "Is there anything for the forecaster to say now" --- 53% now! Here is Shami. Vihari seems to be getting chucked into all sorts of pressure situations lately...
HV Patel c †Rahul b Curran 0 (2m 2b 0x4 0x6) SR: 0
Satwinder Singh: "This should be a good lesson to pant. Twice in two games, he didn't finish the game. You have to take game deep when you bat at Number 4. "
Forecaster on the decline! From 92% at Pant's wicket down to 75% now. Here's Harshal, he can tonk a few.
CA Ingram c sub (KK Nair) b Curran 38 (44m 29b 4x4 1x6) SR: 131.03
kaju: ""R Ashwin has knocked the stumps down at the non-striker's end.." Gave me a little scare there." --- Ha!
Devesh : "That wasn't a run in a million years. No pressure, not a heavy RRR and they still play with their luck. Why are DC trying everytime to choke at the end?" --- Ingram counting the fielders, lining up his options. Fine leg and third man are in.
Well, here he is. The man everyone wants to see. Sam Curran has the ball. Point, extra cover, mid-off are in. Midwicket too. Over the wicket...
END OF OVER:17 | 7 Runs 2 Wkts | DC: 144/5 (23 runs required from 18 balls, RR: 8.47, RRR: 7.66)
- Colin Ingram37 (27b)
- Hanuma Vihari0 (0b)
- Mohammed Shami3-0-23-1
- Ravichandran Ashwin4-0-31-2
Anand: "Oh .....I dont want a Super Over again....just win it...Come on Ingram... PS: Bhuvi's pretty much lost his starting place to Shami in ENG"
prax: "Vihari played an interesting role in Delhi's last match. He was the one who took the match to super over by trying an unnecessary six when they needed just 2 runs in 3 balls...and again... he was the one who helped DC to win the super over by saving that third man boundary...which otherwise would have left DC in big trouble"
CH Morris run out 0 (1m 1b 0x4 0x6) SR: 0
Rishav: "@Varun, Poor team selection by Ashwin. When you know you have the likes of Karun Nair and Nicholas Pooran on the bench, why play Sam Curran as just a pinch hitter? Not necessary to play 4 overseas players."
Anand: "Shami's accuracy is something!"
RR Pant b Mohammed Shami 39 (50m 26b 3x4 2x6) SR: 150
Mudit: "Mujeeb's strong point is bowling during the powerplay and he has proven that time and again. "
Praveen: "Has Ashwin missed a trick by not using Vilojen's last over already? Vilojen's bowled 10 dot balls out 18 he has bowled."
Nakul: "Why did you play sam curran when you only bowl him 1 over ???" -- Technically, he came in as a batsman today...

