Mohali, Apr 27: After making a brilliant 75 that almost sealed the fate of the match in favour of Kings XI, Simon Katich ran himself after he had a mix-up with Yuvraj Singh. The Kings XI were 119/4 after 14 overs, needing another 38 to win off 36 balls.

Katich completed his fifty off just 32 balls as he is proving to be a thorn in the flesh for Delhi bowlers. It’s refreshing to see an innings like this as he played the normal cricket shots all through his innings, not typical T20 slog shots.

Just when everything was looking good for Kings XI, Mahela Jayawardene(15) got out as Shoaib Malik took a diving return catch on his own bowling. Kings were were 75/3 after 9 overs. Yuvraj Singh joined Katich in the middle.

Delhi Daredevils have got off to a reasonably good start as they crawl to 43/2 after 5 overs. After having lost Karan Goel (1) and Kumar Sangakkara (4), Daredevils consolidate their position with the help pf sensible batting by Simon Katich (34 n.o).

Earlier, impressive spells by VRV Singh, Irfan Pathan and Brett Lee helped Kings XI Punjab restrict star-studded Delhi Daredevils to 158/8 on a placid Mohali track. VRV was the wrecker-in-chief as he scalped in-form Gambhir, Tiwari and Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik.

Earlier, after playing a responsible knock of 39, Manoj Tiwari departed, falling off the bowling of impressive VRV Singh. He tried to hook him, but skied it and Yuvraj Singh took a well-judge catch. At the end of 18 overs, Daredevils were 137/7.

Daredevils lost their fifth wicket as stumper Dinesh Karthik got out in an unfortunate fashion for a well-made 24. Karthik wanted to pull a Yuvraj Singh delivery over square leg and got a thick inside edge which took out his leg stump. But Manoj Tiwary (25 n.o) helped his team cross the 100-run mark. At the end of 15 overs, Daredevils were precariously placed at 107/5.

VRV Singh struck off consecutive balls to send Shoaib Malik on a long walk to the Daredevil dugout. Malik departed for 19 after hitting a few brilliant fours. He got out in an attempt to accelerate the run rate scooping a catch to third man.

VRV got the third wicket for the Kings XI in the form of Gautam Gambhir. Gambhir looked in good knick striking a few boundaries before mistiming a pull off the Kings XI Punjab pacer.

Delhi Daredevils lost their second wicket in quick succession as Shikhar Dhawan looked like he had gloved a fiery Brett Lee delivery into the safe hands of wicketkeeper Kumar Sangakkara. Replays however suggested that the ball had brushed the batsman’s shoulder.

Irfan Pathan provided Kings XI Punjab with the first breakthrough as he snared dangerous looking Delhi Daredevils captain Virender Sehwag. An incoming delivery caught Sehwag plumb in front of the wickets on his backfoot.

Earlier, Delhi Daredevils captain Virender Sehwag won the toss and elected to bat first on the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium track which seemed good strip to bat on.

Sehwag had no hesitations in opting to have a go at the Mohali bowlers.

Yuvraj Singh seemed slightly disappointed having lost the toss as he said that he would have batted first had he won the toss but that it did not matter much in a Twenty20 match.

Delhi Daredevils innings: G Gambhir c Yuvraj Singh b Singh 18, V Sehwag lbw b Pathan 6, S Dhawan c Sangakkara b Lee 0, Shoaib Malik c Lee b Singh 19, MK Tiwary c Yuvraj Singh b Singh 39, KD Karthik b Yuvraj Singh 24, R Bhatia b Pathan 17, MF Maharoof run out (Jayawardene/Sangakkara) 18 VY Mahesh not out 6 Extras (lb 5, w 6) 11 Total: (8 wickets; 20 overs) 158 (7.90 runs per over) FOW: 1-11, 2-12, 3-45, 4-54, 5-88, 6-125, 7-139 , 8-158 Bowling: B Lee 4-0-33-1, IK Pathan 4-0-26-2, S Sreesanth 2-0-25-0, VRV Singh 4-0-29-3, PP Chawla 4-0-29-0, Yuvraj Singh 2-0-11-1

Kings XI Punjab innings: K Goel lbw b McGrath 1, SM Katich run out (Sehwag/Bhatia) 75, KC Sangakkara c Karthik b Mohammad Asif 4, DPMD Jayawardene c & b Shoaib Malik 15, Yuvraj Singh not out 40, TM Srivastava c Karthik b Mahesh 7, IK Pathan c Karthik b Mohammad Asif 10, B Lee not out 1 Extras: (lb 3, w 4, nb 2) 9 Total: (6 wickets; 19.3 overs) 162 (8.30 runs per over) FOW: 1-2, 2-11,3-69, 4-119, 5-141, 6-155 Bowling: GD McGrath 4-0-29-1, Mohammad Asif 4-0-39-2, MF Maharoof 3-0-31-0, VY Mahesh 4-0-23-1, Shoaib Malik 3.3-0-32-1, R Bhatia 1-0-5-0