Kings XI Punjab hammered Karun Nair-led Delhi Daredevils by 10 wickets on Sunday at Mohali to jump to the fifth place in Indian Premier League table.

Batting first, the Daredevils were shot out for a paltry 67, masterminded by a brilliant show with the ball by Sandeep Sharma (4/20) with the ball and was ably supported by the rest of the bowlers. In reply, Punjab hardly broke into a sweat chasing down the runs as Marin Guptill’s blitzkrieg (50 from 27) took his side’s home with a whopping 73 balls to spare.

Here are some of the moments that stood out during the contest:

Sandeep Sharma’s resurgence

It was the bowlers who set up Punjab’s two consecutive wins at the start of the IPL. A key feature of those two wins were the bowlers being miserly during the powerplay overs, conceding only 35 and 23 runs.

Even in those two games, it was Sandeep Sharma’s cunning medium-pacers that set the tone for his side. Since then, Glenn Maxwell’s side has been on a freefall with their bowlers enduring a nightmare in each of their five losses in their last six games.

In the last three games alone, Sandeep Sharma’s figures read: 11 overs, 114 runs and 3 wickets that came at a miserable economy rate of 10.36. The 24-year-old’s support cast also capitulated along with him.

Here, the 2012 U-19 World Cup winner was at his best, wearing batsmen down with his change in pace and getting the ball to swing both ways even though it wasn’t prodigal. Sam Billings, Sanju Samson and Shreys Iyer were caught at the crease while Sandeep Sharma’s fourth scalp, Kagiso Rabada couldn’t get the elevation on his shot and was caught at mid-wicket by Shaun Marsh.

Sandeep Sharma confirmed that he was dropped from the team in the last game, where he was replaced by Anureet Singh: “Viru pa [Coach Virender Sehwag] suggested that I take some time off before this game. He told me to back my ability to swing the ball”

Glenn Maxwell’s captaincy

Image Credit: Deepak Malik/Sportzpics/IPL

Gone are the days of the famous cricketing adage “A captain is only as good as his team”. Glenn Maxwell’s story of the season could well be dubbed into “The captain is only as good as his bowlers”. The Australian and his team strutted out with a spring in their step despite their poor recent form. A couple of bad performances has the potential of completely derailing the confidence of a side. It’s something that Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore would know better.

Here, everything that Maxwell tried paid off. It was known that Sandeep Sharma would operate through the powerplay overs. But, T Natarajan and Mohit Sharma’s contribution too, played a major role in keeping the pressure on the Daredevils: The two medium-pacers conceded only eight runs in the three overs they shared early on.

Instead of tossing the ball up, Maxwell went flatter, which reaped rich dividends, conceding just 12 runs in his four overs while picking up a wicket. Axar Patel, who picked up two wickets, attacked the batsmen by asking them to play against the turn. The left-armer dismissed Karun Nair with a peach: The ball shot away from good length and comfortably breached the gap between bat and pad.

Maxwell’s was also rewarded with his ploy to hold back the fast but expensive Varun Aaron (2/3) till the 14th over of the innings.

The collapse

It was one of those days where the side couldn’t recover from a poor start. The Daredevils’ aggressive middle-order batsmen tried to counter-attack with big hits, a strategy that briefly worked only for Corey Anderson.

Meanwhile, all the other batsmen perished quickly trying to muscle the ball out of the park and as a result, were dismissed for their lowest total in IPL history. Punjab even dropped a couple of catches during the Daredevils’ cycle-stand collpase. Just like Punjab, the Daredevils may well stage a comeback in their forthcoming games. However, some clever folk on Twitter were not that forgiving as they tore into Karun Nair and Co’s tepid show.

Bowlers beware, Guptill has arrived

Image credit: Deepak Malik/Sportzpics/IPL

Martin Guptill played his first game in this IPL during his side’s 26-run loss against Sunrisers Hyderabad only because Hashim Amla had to sit out with an injured hamstring. The New Zealander’s 11-ball 23 had provided enough evidence for his team management to persist with him in this game.

Guptill made a mockery of the small target, dispatching the short deliveries with utmost disdain. Anything that was pitched on a fuller length was carted back over the bowler’s head. The Kiwi may well go on to emerge as a trump card during the business end of the tournament for Punjab. He ended with an unbeaten 50 from just 27 balls.

Brief scores:

  • Delhi Daredevils 67 in 17.4 Overs (Corey Anderson 18, Karun Nair 11; Sandeep Sharma 4/20, Varun Aaron 2/3) lost to Kings XI Punjab 68/0 in 7.5 Overs (Martin Guptill 50 not out) by 10 wickets