Shaun Marsh made a triumphant return to the Kings XI Punjab side, hitting a 40 ball 65 and then three boundaries in the super over to bag the MoM award. There was plenty of drama in the super overs for both sides as Miller and Watson were dismissed off the first balls, followed by a boundary off a no ball. Kings XI who batted first manged to get 15 runs, while RR lost their two allotted wickets for just 5 runs with Johnson castling Watson and Faulkner run out brilliantly by Saha. The strange decision of bringing in Hooda to bowl in the 18th over, with Tambe having 1 over, means Watson has to shoulder a major part of the blame for the loss.
Marsh, who was playing only because captain George Bailey was injured, batted with ease making one wonder why he was kept out in the first place.David Miller was at his devastating best too as he helped Punjab to match the 191 run mark set by RR. Ajinkya Rahane continued his fine form top scoring for the Royals with 74 runs. Shane Watson, who struggled to get going early on in the innings, hit Shivam Sharma, who came into the side for Gurkeerat Singh, for 18 runs in his first over.Breezy knocks from Hooda, Karun Nair and Stuart Binny made up for the loss of Watson and Smith and things looked bright for a sixth win on the trot for RR.The fifth
It looked the case,when Punjab were reduced to 59/3 in 9 overs, including the wicket of Glenn Maxwell.Both the openers were run out,Sehwag for nought and Murali Vijay by leg spinner Rahul Tewatia who showed quick thinking to flick the bails at the non striker's end, after the ball was hit back to him by Marsh. Tewatia then got the wicket for which he was brought into the team, as Maxwell's struggles against the leggies continued. The left handed duo of Miller and Marsh however batted with ease, as they bridged the gap between runs required and balls remaining. Marsh was outfoxed by Tambe and it looked done and dusted. Miller then upped the ante and was given a gift by Watson in the form of Hooda being given the 18th over. Hooda did get his man, but not before hitting two maximums. Kings XI still needed 26 to win of the final overs. The pressure was getting to the Royals with Smith and Samson missing easy chances for run outs and it proved costly as Saha, Axar Patel and Mitchell Johnson were able to move the game into the super over, where they prevailed.
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