Rising Pune Supergiant thrashed Kings XI Punjab by nine wickets in a crunch game in Pune, as King XI Punjab got eliminated from the next round of the cash-rich Indian Premier League Twenty20 competition with one match to go in a group stage of IPL 2017.
With this emphatic victory Rising Pune Supergiant jumped to the second position on a group stage IPL 2017 points table as they have amassed 18 points in 14 matches while further improving their net run-rate as +0.176. Supergiant chased down the target in 12 overs with eight overs to spare.
Ajinkya Rahane remained unbeaten on run-a-ball 34 whereas skipper Steven Smith remained not out on 15 off 18 balls.
In ninth over, Rahane was dropped in the deep mid-wicket region when Martin Guptill tried a reverse cup as the ball popped out his hand – to give a life to Supergiant opener, who tried a full-bloodied slog sweep in a bid to fetch some quick runs.
The revelation with the bat in this season for Rising Supergiant, Rahul Tripathi was clean bowled by left-arm orthodox spinner Axar Patel when latter went too much across to play the ball very fine to the fielder, but he failed as the ball dislodged the zing bails.
In sixth over, Supergiant lost their first wicket on 41 after Tripathi trudged off the ground while scoring 28 off 20 balls.
In the match number 55 of Indian Premier League (IPL), Steven Smith-led Rising Pune Supergiant won the toss at home in Pune and opted to bowl first which further turned a wise decision from the skipper. Interestingly, Smith won the fifth toss of the season in 13 matches whereas, his counterpart Glenn Maxwell, who led Kings XI Punjab lost 10 tosses in the tenth edition of IPL.
With nothing going in the way of the Mohali-based outfit as Supergiant bowlers did their all hard work to skittle out visitors for 73 runs in 15.5 overs in a do-or-die game which was expected to be a cracker of a game as Punjab batting line-up fall like a pack of cards while having nothing to show with the bat.
Giving their best with the ball, Supergiant’s pick of the bowler was Shardul Thakur, who picked three wickets after conceding 19 runs in his quota of four overs. Jaydev Unadkat claimed two wickets each alongside two Australia with the likes of Adam Zampa and Daniel Christian.
For Kings XI, Martin Guptill from New Zealand opened the innings with wicket-keeper batsman Wriddhiman Saha, who has shown promise with the bat in his previous game when he was promoted up the order against Mumbai Indians.
The right-handed batsman Guptill was dismissed by Jaydev Unadkat on the very first ball of the innings when latter was caught by Manoj Tiwary on nought.
While adding 19 runs for the second wicket, Shaun Marsh was dismissed by Shardul Thakur when skipper Smith completed a simple catch to see his countryman returning back to the pavilion. The left-handed Marsh scored 10 off 13 balls which included two fours.
In fourth over, Eoin Morgan was found shot of the crease by Jaydev Unadkat on 4 off 4 balls.
The left-handed batsman Rahul Tewatia was superbly caught Jaydev Unadkat on the bowling of Shardul Thakur when latter was batting on four of three balls.
In sixth over, Punjab lost their sixth wicket in the form of skipper Glenn Maxwell, when he found Ajinkya Rahane on the on-side fence after facing three balls.
Ashar Patel, who has scored crucial runs in the past, was the top scorer for Punjab in this match with 20-ball 22 runs.
Patel was caught by wicket-keeper batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni on the bowling of Daniel Christian.
Swapnil Singh scored 17-ball 10 before Dhoni completed a fine catch on the bowling of fast bowler Unadkat.
Mohit Sharma was undone by leg-spinner Adam Zampa when Daniel Christian completed a catch. Sharma scored six off 12 balls.
Ishant Sharma was dismissed on one off 5 balls as Sandeep Sharma didn’t face a ball after latter was caught by Smith on the bowling of Zampa, who claimed his second wicket.