Kings XI Punjab lost by a narrow margin of 10 runs against the Warriors in their warm-up game in Port Elizabeth, as they faltered in pursuit of a competitive 151. Colin Ingram set up the Warriors innings with an aggressive, unbeaten 57, which included five fours and two sixes. Punjab struggled in the field, dropping five catches though they will be encouraged by the performance of their fast bowler VRV Singh who finished with 4 for 24. Taruwar Kohli led the Punjab response with a quickfire 36 but was short of support from the other batsmen, like Simon Katich (12) and Kumar Sangakkara (16), who got starts but failed to consolidate. Warren Bell took 2 for 22 as Punjab, requiring 19 off the last over, managed just eight.

Last year’s finalists Chennai Super Kings registered a comfortable 42-run win over the Dolphins in Durban. Suresh Raina top scored for Chennai with 72 and Parthiv Patel contributed 43 as their team piled up 181 for 7. Imraan Khan was the most effective of the Dolphins bowlers, taking 3 for 11. In response, the local team were skittled out for 139 as Muttiah Muralitharan bagged 3 for 32.

In their set of warm-ups, Kolkata Knight Riders lost the first game against Free State by two wickets off the last ball. Defending 140, they managed to stretch the home team to the last over but their score eventually proved inadequate. In the second game, though, they bounced back to win by 59 runs after Chris Gayle and Brendon McCullum scored 76 each to post a formidable 204. Free State, in reply, could only manage 145 for 7. agencies
Source – dailytimes.com.pk