The Century Was A Complete Surprise
On this day in IPL in 2011 Kings XI, Punjab batsman Paul Valthaty smashed a century against Chennai Super Kings which was totally unexpected while chasing a daunting target of 189 in the fourth season of Indian Premier League.
In the match, Adam Gilchrist the former captain of Punjab won the toss and elected to field. The Chennai team which batted first posted a decent score of 188 runs for the loss of 4 wickets in 20 overs mainly due to half-centuries from Murali Vijay (74) and Subramaniam Badrinath (66*).
Vaithaty opened the innings along with his captain Gilchrist. He dominated the proceedings since the start hitting at least one four in every over.
However, he was given a life when Chennai all-rounder Albie Morkel dropped him off Ravichandran Ashwin ‘s delivery in third over.
He completed his half-century in 23 balls by taking a single off CSK spinner Suraj Randiv in seventh over.
Kings XI reached 99/1 at the end of 10th over. Though the team was losing wickets Valthaty made sure that he did not lose his wicket and kept ticking the scoreboard at a brisk pace.
When Dinesh Karthik came in to bat at No 6 for Punjab, it needed 51 runs in the final 5 overs. A match-winning last wicket partnership of 57 saw Valthaty played a major role in his team’s win.
Vaithaty’s Hits His First Century
Vaithaty who was on 97 hit a four in 17th over bowled by Morkel which brought him his first century. He dominated all the bowlers and scored a total of 120 not out in 63 balls. His score included 2 sixes and 19 fours.
In that IPL, he scored a total of 463 runs in 14 matches at an average of 35.61 and at a strike rate of 136.98 including one century and two half-centuries.
He went on to represent the Punjab team in 2 more seasons but could not repeat the level of success again.
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