Double header Sunday settled things once and for all at the Indian Premier League 2017. The one qualifier spot open was filled and we saw a low scoring match between two of the minnows. We look at the highlights of the decider between Rising Pune Supergiants and Kings XI Punjab in match no. 55 and the interesting but largely irrelevant faceoff; match no 56 between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Delhi Daredevils, and the schedule ahead.
As things stood before the match, KXIP would have had to win and also beat the run rate of the team at No4 to qualify. Winning the toss, RPS chose to field. It was a good decision because the KXIP batsmen were seriously out of sorts. Only Wriddhiman Saha (13 off 17), Sean Marsh (10 off 13), Axar Patel (22 off 20) and Swapnil Singh (10 off 17) reached double figures. KXIP were all out for the dismal score of 73.
Ajinkya Rahane (34 off 34) Rahul Tripathi (28 off 20) and Steven Smith (15 off 18) overhauled the set target with ease; losing just one wicket and with 48 balls to spare. With this win, RPS not only qualify, they are now at second place on the points table.
The perfect Catch of the Match award went to Jaydev Unadkat. Rahul Tripathi got the award for the Maximum Sixes. The Stylish Player of the Day award went to Adam Zampa. The Player of the Match was Jaydev Unadkat for his two wickets and three economical overs including one maiden.
The last of the qualifier games was the faceoff between RCB and DD. With neither team having any hope of advancing in the tournament, this was a match for salvaging pride mainly. RCB won the toss and chose to bat. The stars shone on the day; Chris Gayle (48 off 38) and Virat Kohli (58 off 45) were the major contributors to the team score of 161/6.
Karun Nair (26 off 22), Shreyas Iyer (32 off 30), Rishabh Pant (45 off 34) and lower down the order, Mohammed Shami (21 off 9) could not prevent the Delhi team from collapsing to defeat. DD were all out for 151, losing to RCB by 10 runs.
The perfect Catch of the Match award went to Shahbaz Nadeem. The Maximum Sixes award went to Chris Gayle and the Stylish Player of the Match was Virat Kohli for his innings. Kohli was clearly happy with the outcome.
The Player of the Match was Harshal Patel for his three wicket haul; each a crucial wicket for his team. This was his first match of the season; the last one for his team.
No match is scheduled for today; however, it will be a big one on Tuesday, 16th May 2017: Mumbai Indians will take on Pune Supergiants at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. On Wednesday, Sunrisers Hyderabad will take on the Kolkata Knight Riders at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
Do you have something interesting you would like to share? Write to us at [email protected]
