Published: May 14, 2017, 05:22 PM (IST)
Edited: May 14, 2017, 05:30 PM (IST)
Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS) took on Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in a virtual knockout match in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2017 on the last double-header weekend. Kings XI Punjab’s luck continued to evade them as RPS won the toss and put the visitors into bat. It was a combination of horrible batting by Kings XI Punjab, brilliant fielding and smart bowling by trio of Jaydev Unadkat, Shardul Thakur and Daniel Christian that put RPS in a position of power in the match. Kings XI Punjab showed no resolute in the middle despite playing one extra batsmen, while Rising Pune Supergiant’ rose to the occasion and bundled out visitors for 73. If Rising Pune Supergiant win this match they will qualify for the IPL 10 Qualifier to go up against Mumbai Indians (MI). The chase now looks like a formality. Full Cricket Scorecard: Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS) vs Kings XI Punjab (KXIP), IPL 2017, Match 55 at Pune
RPS got off to a excellent start nabbing Martin Guptill on the very first ball of the match. Unadkat who has been a revelation for RPS asked Guptill to play away from his body and the latter obliged. As expected Shaun Marsh came out at No.3 to partner Wriddhiman Saha. Saha meanwhile was lucky to be dropped in the Undakat’s second over by MS Dhoni. Marsh’s stay in the middle only lasted 13 balls before he lobed a dolly to his Australian teammate Steven Smith off Shardul Thakur for 10.
Saha was joined by Eoin Morgan in only the 4th over, playing his fourth match for Kings XI Punjab this season.
Morgan’s time in the middle was cut short by Unadkat who ran him out on the non-strikers end for 4. Rahul Tewatia strangely came out above skipper Glenn Maxwell at No.5. He too after hitting a boundary went back in the dressing room. Tewatia in an attempt to pull a short-ball managed to lob the ball to a flying Unadkat at short fine leg.
Maxwell came out in the middle and went back to the pavilion after facing just 3 balls. Maxwell went after a wide delivery and gave a simple flick straight into the hands of Ajinkya Rahane off Thakur; his second in the over. After a few wicket less overs, the first over after strategic timeout by Christian induced Saha to a false shot. Playing away from his body, Saha got a thick edge to Dhoni for a 17-ball 13.
Akshar Patel after playing a steady hand of 22, handed Dhoni a very easy catch off a nothing shot against Christian. This was also Dhoni’s 100 dismissal in IPL. Swapnail Singh followed suit and was caught behind. The ball rebounded off Christian’s palms and Dhoni made no mistake. KXIP continued to give wickets away with Ishant Sharma throwing away his wicket to Adam Zampa for 1.
Zampa concluded the KXIP innings getting Mohit Sharma for a 12-ball 6 that saw visitors finish on 73. This is also the lowest total for KXIP in IPL beating their previous best of 88 versus Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).
Brief scores:
Kings XI Punjab 73 all out in 15.5 overs (Akshar Patel 22, Wriddhiman Saha 13; Shardul Thakur 3 for 19) vs Rising Pune Supergiant
