Raza knocks winning runs in Punjab Kings win

ZIMBABWE international, Sikandar Raza put up a ‘Commander of the Match’ performance in Punjab Kings’ last ball four wickets win over Chennai Super Kings in an Indian Premier League (IPL) match played at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Sunday.

Raza took one wicket in three overs as Super Kings finished on 200/4 in their 20 overs after they had elected to bat first.

The Chevrons stalwart went on to score the winning runs in their chase, finishing with an unbeaten 13 runs while his side ended on 201/6 in 20 overs.

For getting the first breakthrough with the ball and scoring the winning runs in the thriller, Raza was named Commander of the Match.

This was Punjab Kings’ fifth victory of the season from the nine matches they have played. The 37-year-old all-rounder conceded 31 runs in his spell with the ball.

He took the wicket of Super Kings’ opening batter, Raturaj Gaikwad who fell for 37 runs from 31 deliveries. Arshdeep Singh, Sam Curran and Rahul Chahar also took one wicket each for the eventual winners.

New Zealand international, Devon Conway starred with the bat for the Super Kings after he remained undefeated on 92 runs from 52 deliveries while Shivam Dube fell for 28 runs after facing 17 balls.

In their chase, Raza batted down the order, coming in at number eight. He faced seven deliveries and scored one four in his innings.

Needing nine runs to win off the last over, Raza and his partner Shahrukh Khan did not hit a single boundary against Super Kings’ Matheesha Pathirana.

After a single, a leg bye, a dot ball and two twos off Pathirana’s first five balls, Punjab Kings needed three runs to win off the last ball.

Raza shuffled across and played a pull short for three quick runs to seal victory for his team and take them to 10 points, alongside three other teams, and to fifth place on the table, just behind their opponents on net run rate.

Prabhsimran Singh, who was substituted in top scored for Punjab Kings with 42 runs off 24 balls while Liam Livingstone fell for 40 runs from 24 balls as well as they laid the foundation for the chase.

“Alhamdulillah for the win. Incredible game of cricket and to be on the winning side is a great and humbling feeling. A total team effort to pull this win off.

We March on Punjab Kings,” Raza posted on his Twitter after the match.

Next up for Raza and Punjab Kings is a clash against seventh placed Mumbai Indians tomorrow in Mohali. — @brandon_malvin