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n keeping with its extremely well-appointed cricket
conquering Rajasthan Royals, the pair added a rollicking 133 in
stadium, it is apparent to any visitor to the area of Mohali and bowlers were entirely comfortable with. Against the all-
Chandigarh that, with its well-mapped roads, a lot of thought 13.4 overs for the first wicket en route to a team total of 221 for
went into its planning. The same might be said about the Kings three. The result? A rare defeat for Shane Warne’s men.
XI Punjab team, which started poorly before embarking on
one of the most impressive sequences in the tournament and Sangakkara proved a shrewd signing too, as Moody will have
eventually losing out to Chennai Super Kings in a disappointingly known during his time as Sri Lanka’s coach. An innings of 94 off
one-sided semi-final in Mumbai. But an overall record of 10 wins 56 deliveries against Mumbai Indians inspired Kings XI to their
from 15 matches reflected the fact that the Punjabis, coached first win at the third attempt and arguably provided the self-
by the highly respected Tom Moody, who brought with him belief that allowed the side to notch up nine victories in 10. In
years of experience with county teams, Western Australia and all Sangakkara – unusually managing to combine his customary
Sri Lanka, had got far more things right than they did wrong. left-handed elegance with some ferocious boundary-hitting –
hit four half-centuries and finished with 320 runs at 35 and a

It was one of the delights of the tournament that the Kings XI’s strike-rate of 161. As the side’s regular wicket-keeper and a paid-
star player probably disappeared under the radar of most teams’ up member of the brains trust, Sangakkara was one of the most
pre-competition homework. While much was known about the quietly efficient players of the tournament.
likes of Yuvraj Singh, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene,
Simon Katich and Ramnaresh Sarwan, it’s fair to say that Marsh His Sri Lankan captain Jayawardene had a less spectacular
was more of a cricketing B-lister. Just 24 when the tournament tournament, managing a top score of just 45 during the
began, the Western Australian was better known as the son of comfortable win over Deccan Chargers in Hyderabad, but five
the former Australian opening batsman Geoff Marsh, whose not-outs in 12 innings also hinted at an inner steel that spread
style at the crease may not have fitted in with the breakneck throughout the team as the tournament progressed. There were
pace of Twenty20 cricket. Shaun, though, was different and by walk-on parts too for the experienced Australian left-hander
the time Kings XI Punjab had departed the tournament, he had Simon Katich, who crashed 75 in 52 deliveries during the win
scored 616 runs at a strike-rate of 139. To place that performance over Delhi Daredevils in one of the two innings he played, and
in context, the next highest runscorer in the IPL was Gautam the rumbustious Luke Pomersbach, another Western Australian
Gambhir of the Delhi Daredevils with 534. But what was so import – Moody’s influence again – who joined the franchise
remarkable about Marsh’s efforts was his sheer consistency. late but had an immediate impact, hitting 151 runs before
The occasionally random nature of Twenty20 cricket tends being dismissed, including 79 not out off 50 balls in the away
to militate against prolonged periods of success, but Marsh’s win against Mumbai Indians, a result that brought to an end
sequence of scores would have looked good in a Test series: 84 Mumbai’s sequence of six straight victories.
not out, 40, 39, 58, 74 not out, 2, 81, 60, 40, 115 and 23. His genius
was to defy the law of averages, hitting 59 fours and 26 sixes But perhaps the greatest indication that Kings XI Punjab had
along the way and finishing as the undisputed claimant to the got their signings right was that their captain Yuvraj, famed as
orange helmet, given to the tournament’s leading runscorer. No the man who hit six sixes in an over off England’s Stuart Broad
one’s reputation rocketed as quickly during the seven-wicket during the World Twenty20 in South Africa in 2007, was able to
competition as Marsh’s. get away with what, by his own very high standards, was an
ordinary tournament. He finished with 299 runs at an average
But it would be misleading to label the Kings XI Punjab a one- of 23 and only rarely expressed himself in that inimitable style:
man team. Marsh’s compatriot James Hopes kicked off with a an innings of 49 off 16 balls in the final group game against
feisty 71 against Chennai Super Kings and frequently helped Rajasthan Royals left most observers wishing he had imposed

Marsh start an innings with more fireworks than the opposition himself on attacks more regularly.

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