IPL 2018: I Had Made Up My Mind to Bowl Mujeeb for the Final Over - Ravichandran Ashwin

Kings XI Punjab pulled off a last-ball thriller against Delhi Daredevils in Delhi.

They managed to clinch a narrow win by just four runs. The result took Punjab to the top of the table with 10 points in six games this season.

After having won the toss, Gautam Gambhir had asked Kings XI Punjab to bat first. Aaron Finch was sent as an opener by Punjab’s management in place of rested Chris Gayle.

However, his poor run continues, as he got dismissed immediately. But KL Rahul scored quick runs with Mayank Agarwal.

Both the players could not convert their starts to big scores. Karun Nair continued to play the role of an anchor in his knock of 34 runs off 32 balls. Miller tried to counter, but Yuvraj Singh looked awful once again.

A below par score of 143 was all that Kings XI Punjab had managed on a track that kept on becoming slower. Liam Plunkett was the star for Delhi Daredevils, as he managed three wickets in his pacey spell.

Clever Plans By Punjab Bowlers

Asked to chase a below par 144, Delhi openers Gautam Gambhir and Prithvi Shaw went all guns blazing. But Kings XI Punjab quickly pulled the match by picking up three wickets inside the power play. The pacers bowled cleverly with slower balls and cutters which made life difficult for Delhi batsmen.

Ashwin continued to keep things tight with his bowling while young Mujeeb Zadran once again impressed with his bag of tricks. Shreyas Iyer continued to fight single-handedly for Delhi, despite little support from other batsmen.

A last-ball dismissal at the boundary meant Kings XI Punjab clinched a very narrow victory. Youngster Prithvi Shaw was also impressive countering Punjab bowlers in his short stay on his debut. Andrew Tye was also impressive, as he won the purple cap once again at the end of the game.

Ashwin proved his captaincy genius by handing over the ball to out of form Barindar Sran, who went for many runs in his first three overs. He finally went on for Mujeeb Zadran for the last over, which proved to be a great decision.

Asked about the 19th over, Ashwin said:

“We were discussing about what to be bowling in the 19th than whom to bowl because I had made up my mind to bowl Mujeeb for the final over. AJ was my best bowler of the day, so bowled him early because if he got Shreyas Iyer, then that’s the game.

“Once you defend a low score, then you can say anyone can win the game for us. They wanted to attack up front in the first six, and it actually fell in our hands because it wasn’t a wicket to hit straightaway.”