IPL 2017: Twitter Reacts As Maxwell-Miller Show Power KXIP To Six-Wicket Win Over RPS 1

Newly-appointed Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) skipper Glenn Maxwell led from the front and scored a quickfire 44* to help his team beat Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS) by six wickets to start the IPL campaign with an impressive win.

Before the tenth edition of the Indian Premier League had begun, Virender Sehwag, the KXIP head of cricket operations, had insisted his team would play ‘aggressive, brave and carefree style of cricket’ and the KXIP batsmen proved him right when they began their innings in reply to RPS’s total of 163.

Hashim Amla and Manan Vohra threw their bat at almost every delivery before the latter offered a catch to Manoj Tiwary while looking to clear the boundary.

It was then Wriddhiman Saha’s turn to heave his bat at almost every delivery and the India wicketkeeper-batsman duly obliged. He raced away to 14 off only 8 balls including three boundaries and with the pacers failing to make any impact, Steve Smith handed the ball to Imran Tahir.

The South Africa spinner made a mark straightaway by disturbing Saha’s timbers on the very first ball of his spell. Axar Patel was then sent in to play some big shots but the decision to promote the pinch-hitter ahead of Glenn Maxwell and David Miller failed miserably as the India all-rounder struggled to time his shots.

With the pitch providing ample assist, the RPS bowlers started to pile pressure on Amla and Axar and they soon reaped the rewards for it, as both the batsmen fell in quick succession in an attempt to keep pace with the required run-rate.

David Miller and Glenn Maxwell then took the onus on themselves to take their team over the line. Maxwell was looking at his destructive best while Miller looked more than happy to play second-fiddle.

The duo shared an unbeaten partnership of 79  runs, as the 2014 IPL finalists chased down the total with one over remaining. Maxwell scored 44 off only 20 balls including two fours and four sixes while Miller remained unbeaten on 25 off 22.

Earlier, the RPS top-order struggled to get going against a disciplined bowling performance from the KXIP bowlers. On a pitch which, according to RPS batsman Manoj Tiwary, was double-paced, the stalwarts of the Pune team struggled to freely play their shots and threw away their wickets cheaply.

The visitors were reeling at 71 for 4 in the 12th over before Ben Stokes and Manoj Tiwary added 61-run for the fifth wicket to set the foundation for a decent total. The England all-rounder, who was the costliest player in this year’s auction, provided the much-needed impetus to the RPS innings by scoring 50 runs off only 32 balls before Tiwary and Dan Christian hit some big shots in the slog overs to help their team put up a respectable total.

Here is how Twitter reacted to the match:

https://twitter.com/Martyguptill/status/850711552886009856

https://twitter.com/ChhotaSimba/status/850673374791479296