The Rising Pune Supergiant finished second in the IPL 2017 table after a crushing win over Kings XI Punjab on Sunday by nine wickets. It was the brilliance of RPS bowlers, which did the trick for the home side, who bowled out KXIP for a paltry 73 runs and chased the score in 12 overs only.
It was a disappointing end to the season for Kings XI Punjab, who had kept their hopes alive after defeating top teams like Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians in their last two matches. But, they crumbled against Rising Pune Supergiant when they had to produce their best cricket.
KXIP had high hopes from the likes likes of Martin Guptill, Glenn Maxwell and Eoin Morgan, who had come in for Matt Henry, strengthening their batting line-up. But, things could not have got any worse for the visitors, who lost the wicket of Guptill in the first ball of the match.
They also lost the wicket of Shaun Marsh immediately, and wickets fell like nine pins, and their big guns were all in the dugout in the first six overs. They scored 32 runs for five wickets, which was dismal in such a crunch game.
Jaydev Unadkat and Shardul Thakur had done major damage with the new ball, and after such a poor start, Kings XI Punjab never found their rhythm. They were in desperate need for someone to play till the end, and provide a decent total. Axat Patel raised some hopes with his 22 runs, which was the highest individual score for KXIP.
But, with KXIP losing wickets at regular intervals, they were all out for 73 runs.
This target was never really going to pose any problems for RPS, with top order batsmen such as Ajinkya Rahane, Rahul Tripathi and Steve Smith.
If the KXIP had any chance of a stunning win, they had to dismiss the top order of RPS for cheap runs, and hope to pile pressure on middle order. But, nothing of that sort happened for KXIP as Rahane and Tripathi looked in good touched, and did not give their wickets away.
Tripathi, who is their in-form player, hit some crisp boundaries before being dismissed for 28 runs in the sixth over, but it was the pair of Rahane and Smith, which finished the game in the 12th over.
All in all, it was a comprehensive victory for the home team, who will have to put up similar clinical performances in the Playoffs stage. Having secured second position in the table, they will now face Mumbai Indians in the first qualifier, and if they lose that, RPS will have another crack at the final via second qualifier.
Match scorecard
KXIP:73 all out in 15.5 overs.
RPS: 78/1 in 12 overs.
Result: RPS won by nine wickets.
Bowling: RPS:Jaydev Unadkat 3-1-12-2; Shardul Thakur 4-0-19-3; Ben Stokes 3-0-10-0; Adam Zampa 3.5-0-22-0; Dan Christian 2-0-10-2;;
KXIP: Sandeep Sharma 2-0-12-0; Mohit Sharma 1-0-6-0; Ishant Sharma 1-0-12-0; Rahul Tewatia 3-0-14-0; Axar Patel 2-0-13-1; Swapnil Singh 1-0-6-0; Glen Maxwell 2-0-15-0.
Fall of wickets: KXIP: 1-0, Guptill ( 0.1 ov), 2-19, Marsh (3.3 ov), 3-24, Morgan, (4.3 ov), 4-31, Tewatia (5.2 ov), 5-32, Maxwell, (5.5 ov), 6-51, Saha (9.2 ov), 7-62, Patel (11.3 ov), 8-69, Swapnil Singh (13.4 ov), 9-71, I Sharma (15.1 ov), 10-73 MM Sharma (15.5 ov)
RPS: 1-41, Tripathi (5.3 ov)
