IPL 8, KXIP vs RR: James Faulkner does it again, this time in India

Pune: Mitchell Johnson’s last over – where he conceded 20 runs – ended up being the difference between Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the MCA International Stadium here on Friday. Despite a good hand from all-rounder Axar Patel and skipper George Bailey, the Men in Red fell short of 26 runs.

Chasing 163, Punjab finished at 136 for the loss of eight wickets in their stipulated 20 overs.KXIP’s first setback was the first ball dismissal of Virender Sehwag.But soon, Murali Vijay took control and things started looking bright for the runners-up of the 2014 season.

In the ninth over, he fell short of ground while running for a single, which was Patel’s call. Sanju Samson hit the stumps. Vijay looked good but his innings ended on 37. South African David Miller (23) had a start as well before finding Faulkner at the deep third man off Dhawal Kulkarni.

But what turned out to be the best moment of the match was Bailey’s dismissal off James Faulkner. Tim Southee and Karun Nair – who hardly play cricket together – co-ordinated their reflex action near the boundary rope and Nair plucked the offering after Southee pushed it back realising he was over the line.

Bailey scored 24 off 18 that included a six and three boundaries.Faulkner finished with three wickets for 26 runs.Earlier, Rajasthan Royals were taken aback by good seam bowling from Sandeep Sharma (1/19) and Anureet Singh (3/23) spearheaded by Johnson (2/34) who removed in-form Steve Smith.It was only Smith (33 off 23) who stood unscathed in the middle overs before a short ball from Johnson surprised him. Karanveer Singh caught him at the third man area.

Stuart Binny – who warmed the bench in the ICC World Cup 2015 – started off well but ended up nicking Johnson to find Wriddhiman Saha behind the stumps.Towards the death overs, it was debutant Deepak Hooda and Faulkner who steadied the RR ship. Hooda, when batting on two, was dropped by Glenn Maxwell which proved costly. He ended up scoring 30 that included three huge sixes.

However, after sending Anureet on a leather hunt on two consecutive deliveries, his off-stump was uprooted by the seamer on the third ball – the fourth ball of the 17^th over. Faulkner ran riot and raced to 46 before Miller pulled off a stellar near the advertisement boards. A full toss around the leg-stump tempted the Australian to go for a slog-sweep. But it wasn’t powerful enough to clear the rope. Miller caught it on the second grab on a rebound. Ajinkya Rahane – the star middle-order batsman from Team India – was a let down. He wasted eight deliveries to be dismissed for nought.

Brief scores: Rajasthan Royals 162/7 in 20 overs (J Faulkner 46, S Smith 33; A Singh 3/23, M Johnson 2/34) beat Kings XI Punjab 136/8 in 20 overs (M Vijay 37, G Bailey 24; J Faulkner 3/26, T Southee 2/36) by 26 runs