IPL: Delhi restrict Punjab to 143

New Delhi April 23 (IANS) A disciplined bowling effort by Delhi Daredevils (DD) restricted Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) to a paltry 143/8 in the Indian Premier League (IPL) match at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium here on Monday.

Pacer Liam Plunkett scalped three wickets while Avesh Khan and Trent Boult chipped in with two each to hurt the Punjab s batting line-up

Put in to bat the visitors received the early blow when Avesh dismissed opener Aaron Finch (2) in the second over.

Incoming batter Mayank Agarwal and opener Lokesh Rahul (23) then showed some resistance putting a 36-run partnership for the second wicket to take Punjab to 42 runs. However Plunkett struck in the fifth over to put an end to Rahul s innings.

Agarwal (21) was the next to depart as in-form Plunkett struck again in the eighth over which left Punjab reeling at 60/3.

After adding 15 more runs tot he total Avesh sent back veteran batsman Yuvraj Singh (14) to make things worse for the visitors.

Yuvraj s fall brought Karun Nair in the middle who showed a little fight against the hosts and slammed 34 runs to take his team past the 100-run mark before falling in the 17th over to Plunkett.

Delhi s Daniel Christian also joined the party and dismissed David Miller (26) with Punjab s scorecard reading 127/6.

Meagre contributions by Punjab skipper Ravichandran Ashwin (6 runs off 7 balls) Andrew Tye (3) and with the help of 14 extra runs Punjab managed to put 143

Brief Scores: Kings XI Punjab 143/8 (Karun Nair 34 Lokesh Rahul 23; Liam Plunkett 3/17) vs Delhi Daredevils.

--IANS
kk/gau/vd