CLT20: KXIP vs Hobart Hurricanes: Moments of the Match

Kings XI Punjab registered a slightly nervy win in a battle of first-timers in Champions League T20, when they defeated Hobart Hurricanes in their opening match in Mohali.Here are the five incredible scenes from the 2nd Match of the Oppo Champions League 2014:

#6 Maxwell paints the sky with willow and leather

If big humongous slog is what Glenn Maxwell is known for, the Aussie dasher revealed the executant within himself when he silkly lofted Boyce over deep extra cover for an effortless six with zero power and immaculate timing. The ball floated in the air, glided over the boundary line and settled quite a few yards away from the ropes. This shot was simply the best shot of the day.

#5 The debutant steals the show

Having warmed the benches through out the last IPL season, Thisera Perera made his debut in red and white after Mitchell Johnson was forced out with an injury.

Thisera Perera bowling his brisk fast medium balls, picked up two wickets in his first two overs sending the dangerous Blizzard and the opener Ben Dunk to the pavillion. With the bat, Perera did what he is best known for, finishing the match for the Lions with 14 balls and 5 wickets to spare.

#4 Evan Gulbis terminates Maelstorm

Despite losing 4 wickets Glenn Maxwell continued his merry ways of scoring quick runs, as the game was quickly slipping out of Hurricanes’ grasp. With Maxwell looking omionous and another usual KXIP-target-chasing seeming a possibility, Evan Gulbis dropped the ball short at the Australian batsman who had moved outside leg with his front foot anchored outside leg.

Maxwell who was in no position to play that ball edged the ball to Tim Paine, the keeper, giving the Australian franchise a glimpse of a victory.

#3 Jonathan Wells\'s Run Out

Jonathan Wells was one of the set batsmen going into the last few overs of the Hurricanes’ innings but he was run out on the 4th ball of the 18th over by Karanveer Singh, that impeded Hobart’s progress.

Had he stayed there till the end, the Aussie team could have got around 15 runs more which would have been proved vital in defending the score.

#2 Blizzard blitzes Akshar Patel

Blizzard was the only one in the Hurricanes team with a strike rate that resembled a T20 one and that was very well evident when he hit the first six of the match in the 11th over.

The slow left-arm bowler Akshar Patel who picked up a wicket off his first over was pummelled straight down the gound by the southpaw. The Hobart team had got on to a very slow start, with both the openers scoring at a strike rate that was below par for T20, but Blizzard’s big hitting brought some momentum in to the Australian franchise’s innings.

#1 Bolinger Stuns Mohali

Much was expected from the Assassin of India – Virender Shewag, but the Austalian left-arm pacer Doug Bolinger left the Punjabi crowd shell shocked with the very first ball of the innings that had boundary written all over it.

The quickie dropped the ball short outside off and Shewag, who doesn’t need a second invitation to thrash balls of this sort, managed to get only the toe end of the bat. The ball sailed over to third man where Cameron Boyce took a fairly easy catch sending seismic waves across the Lion’s den.