GILLY – MARSH RECORD SHOW

All the cricket fans have got a fantastic treat from the boundary show by Australian skippers Gilchrist and Marsh for Preity Zinta's Punjab Kings XI team against Royal Challengers Bangalore on 17^th May with world record partnership of 206 runs in just 16 overs in T20 Internationals. While Punjab were in search of yet another win to stay in contention for the play-offs, they had one more concern to address - their skipper Adam Gilchrist had not produced an innings of impact in this edition of the IPL apart from a half-century. But he proved his mettle at the right time of this edition with 106 off just 55 balls including 8 boundaries and 9 massive sixes taking Kings XI to a huge 232/2.  This is the second century of Gilly in this format of game and he is the only man to achieve this after Chris Gayle who has three centuries in his account. Gilchrist might have retired from international cricket but still he retains the ability to reproduce the magic of coming good on the big day. For a wicket-keeper, with the highest strike rates in both Test and one-day internationals, he has achieved more than any other cricketer in the game. “I have not been setting the world on fire with my batting in the last 6-7 innings. So it was nice to come good. I told myself… don't panic. If you can stick around, you can always pick it up later” he said. 

On the other end, Shaun Marsh played a splendid innings with unbeaten 79 with the strike rate of over 170 which takes Kings XI to cross 200 mark. He has been a regular performer of his team right from the first edition and his knocks of 3 sixes and 3 fours in the same over of South African bowler in this match pushed the run rate to the highest level which ultimately ends up in putting lot of pressure on RCB.  At the end of his innings, he deserved the Orange cap for the leading scorer in this edition of IPL. When asked about Marsh “he is a quality player. Since I come from the same city as him, I've seen him from his days when he was very young. I have always maintained that IPL is a great platform to perform. I am sure Marsh can become a regular member of the Australian National team” said Gilly. Still Kings XI have a bit of chance to reach the top spot but they have to perform extremely well whereas KKR should lose the game against Pune Warriors. Let’s wait and watch their show in the forthcoming matches.