The Kings
XI Punjab (KXIP) continued their incredible resurrection in the Indian Premier
League (IPL) this season with a fourth consecutive nail-biting win, beating the Sunrisers
Hyderabad by 12 runs at the Dubai International Stadium on Saturday.

With the Kolkata
Knight Riders defeating the Delhi Capitals to move further clear of the chasing
pack on 12 points, a loss for either KL Rahul or David Warner would’ve dealt a major blow to their ambitions for the fourth and final playoff spot.

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And Punjab got off to the worst possible start, setting a meager 127-run
target for the Sunrisers.  

However, an
inspired bowling performance saw KXIP successfully defend the lowest total this
season, and in their history.

SRH’s Warner-Bairstow
opening partnership seemed to be cruising to victory till the seventh over,
when they were 56 for no loss.

The opening duo, along with Abdul Samad, was then
dismissed quickly, but Hyderabad were still in control at 100 for
the loss of three wickets in the 16th over.

A
spectacular collapse followed, as Hyderabad lost their next seven wickets for just
14 runs, as Punjab completed an unlikely 12-run victory.

Their three
previous wins were also similarly nerve-wracking.

Against the
Royal Challengers Bangalore, fifties from Chris Gayle and Rahul seemed to have put
KXIP on the brink of victory with just two runs needed off the final over.

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However,
three dots and a single in the first four deliveries put Punjab under pressure
and Gayle was run-out off the penultimate ball, although Nicholas Pooran sealed
the win with a six off the final delivery.

IPL history
was scripted against the Mumbai Indians, as KXIP needed two Super Overs to
secure their first back-to-back win of the season.

After scores
were tied at 176/6 each, both Punjab and Mumbai finished with five runs each in
the first Super Over as incredible, last-ball run-outs denied either side a win on
both occasions.

Kieron Pollard
starred in the second Super Over, as Mumbai scored 11 runs, although Gayle
and Mayank Agarwal secured the points scoring 15 in four deliveries.

It was a
relatively comfortable affair against the Delhi Capitals, although the Punjab outfit had to overcome a rare top-order failure to see out the win.

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Shikhar Dhawan’s second
consecutive century went in vain, as Glenn Maxwell and Pooran helped chase down the 165-run target with
an over to spare.

At the halfway
stage of the tournament, with KXIP rock-bottom of the points table having lost
all but one of their seven games, coach Anil Kumble kept faith in his team,
saying they will turn their fortunes around in the second innings and a win was just around the corner.

It seems
the former spin legend’s words have resonated with his charges, as four wins from
four since have made KXIP the prime contenders to wrestle the fourth playoff
spot from KKR and continue their pursuit for a fairy-tale maiden IPL crown.