Rajkot: Under a new skipper, Kings XI Punjab registered their second win of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2016 as they defeated table-toppers Gujarat Lions by 23 runs.
Chasing a decent total of 154, Lions' star-studded batting line up collapsed like a pack of cards in front of some disciplined bowling from the Punjab bowlers.
Axar Patel ripped through Gujarat Lions' top-order as he claimed crucial wickets of Dwayne Smith (15), Dinesh Karthik (2), Dwayne Bravo and Ravindra Jadeja.
Patel's incredible spell (4/20), included a hat-trick, where he dismissed Karthik, Bravo (0) and Jadeja (11) off consecutive balls.
Earlier batting first, Murali Vijay (55) and Marcus Stoinis (27) got their team off to a brilliant start as they added 65 runs for the opening wicket in just 6.4 overs.
The batsmen to follow failed to make the best of the solid foundation, as Shaun Marsh (1), Glenn Maxwell (0), Gurkeerat Singh (0) all departed in quick successions.
Two decent knocks from David Miller (31) and Wriddhiman Saha (33) ensured that Punjab reached a decent total.
Shivil Kaushik was the pick of the bowlers for Lions with three wickets, while Dwayne Bravo and Praveen Kumar picked two wickets apiece.
In reply, the Lions could not recover after they were reduced to 39/5, courtesy an outstanding spell from Axar.
Despite the win, KXIP continue to be at the bottom of the points table while Lions are still the table-toppers.
