Abu Dhabi: Glenn Maxwell’s whirlwind 95 off 43 balls gave Kings XI Punjab a comprehensive four-wicket win against Chennai Super Kings in a mammoth run chase in the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium here yesterday.
Maxwell’s brutal knock was studded with 15 fours and two sixes and David Miller made an unbeaten 54 off 37 balls as Kings XI easily achieved the target of 206 losing four wickets and with seven wickets in hand.
Maxwell’s innings made a mockery of the run chase, especially after it looked that Chennai Super King had a winning total of 205/4 in 20 overs. Dawayne Smith made 66 and Brendan McCullum struck 67.
While chasing, Kings XI Punjab were in all sorts of trouble as they lost the first three wickets for 52 runs inside six overs.
Super Kings off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin (2-41) removed Cheteshwar Pujara (13) and Akshar Patel (2) while veteran pacer Ashish Nehra got rid of his city mate Virender Shewag (19).
Maxwell and Miller then joined forces with their 115-run stand for the fourth wicket that blew away the former champions.
Super Kings skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni used six bowlers, but none proved effective.
Maxwell came down heavily on all the Super Kings bowlers smashing 15 fours and two sixers.
The Australian was finally removed by Dwayne Smith with a yorker that cramped Maxwell for space and crashed on to his stumps. IANS
