Mohali: Kings XI Punjab skipper George Bailey on Saturday heaped praise on Akshar Patel for his crucial nine-ball 23 that helped his team beat Barbados Tridents by four wickets in the Champions League twenty20 here.
Needing 25 to win off last two overs, Patel blasted three fours and a six as Punjab scored 20 runs off the 19th over. “For a guy like Akshar to come in and hit his first nine balls for 23 runs is extraordinary. It’s a beautiful batting wicket. I was proud of the way we bowled today,” Bailey said after the match.
Punjab registered their second win in as many matches and Bailey hoped his team will keep their record of successful chases intact. “Long may our chasing record continue. We get off to great starts. Once again we did that and we’re thereabouts with the run rate.”
David Miller, who was adjudged as man of the match, said it was Patel who took the pressure off him in the final stages of the match.
“Only towards the end did I hit one out of the ground. Akshar made it easy and took a lot of pressure off my shoulders. I was lucky up front, getting a few chances, but once I’m in I back myself to hit the boundaries,” he said.
“It’s a see-ball-hit-ball type mentality. We’ve got some great spinners and some quicks. [Thisara] Perera is showing some strength for the team. He can clear the boundary and takes wickets as well.”
Virender Sehwag, who scored 31 after opening the innings, was also all praise for Patel. “No one expected Patel to bat the way he did. The six he hit off [Ravi] Rampaul was amazing,” he said.
Talking about the wicket, Sehwag said: “It’s a good track to bat on. A little bit slow. A couple of balls spun when [Jeevan] Mendis bowled, but overall it was a good T20 wicket.”
Tridents skipper Rayad Emrit said they should have grabbed the opportunity at the end when Punjab still needed 25 runs to win.
“I thought with two overs to go, we should have had it with 26 runs to defend. Ravi is our most experienced bowler,” he said.
“Another day he will get it right, but it didn’t happen today. We had spoken about the kinds of lengths we needed to bowl,” he said.
Earlier on Saturday, Mitchell Marsh struck two sixes from the last two balls to pull off a sensational six-wicket win for Perth Scorchers against Dolphins at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium.
Set a target of 165 runs, Marsh’s (40 off 26 balls; three fours, two sixes) late heroics ensured Scorchers’ victory off the last ball of the match.
Earlier, Khaya Zondo’s unbeaten 63 off 50 balls, laced with seven boundaries, helped the South African side post a competitive 164 for 7.
Scorchers lost Adam Voges (7 from 13 balls) early in their chase, but Craig Simmons (36-ball 48) and Sam Whiteman (45 off 32) kept the scoreboard moving. But they lost momentum in the later stages of the innings, with the team needing 16 runs off the last over.
It looked all over for Scorchers when 12 runs were needed off the last two balls, but Marsh’s hitting prowess took them home in stunning fashion.
