Preview: There could not be a more exciting end to the league stage of the Indian Premier League (IPL) as a resurgent Kings XI Punjab will take on Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS) in a virtual knock out clash at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune on Sunday. Till now, table toppers Mumbai Indians are the only side to qualify for the play-offs with 18 points, while the rest three spots are occupied by Kolkata Knight Riders, RPS and Sunrisers Hyderabad. [caption id=“attachment_3444174” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Rising Pune Supergiant captain Steven Smith and Kings XI Punjab skipper Glenn Maxwell.[/caption] Fifth-placed Punjab are on a roll lately and will be a tough nut to crack for Pune, who are currently on 16 points from 13 games with a net run rate of -0.083. Punjab are on 14 points from an equal number of matches but have a comparatively better run rate of +0.296. When the two teams square off on Sunday, the equation is pretty simple for Glenn Maxwell’s team. A win is all that they need to qualify as it will take them to 16 points with a superior net run rate. The Punjab outfit doesn’t have to look at any other results. For Pune, a defeat will be dangerous if Sunrisers win their game against Gujarat Lions on Saturday and clinch their play-off place with 17 points. In case Sunrisers lose, then Supergiant can still make it to the play-offs despite a defeat against Punjab. The Supergiant have themselves to blame for being in such a vulnerable situation, after having gone down to Delhi Daredevils by a mere seven runs in their previous encounter at the Ferozeshah Kotla on Friday. After restricting the Daredevils to 168/8, Pune faltered in their chase with Manoj Tiwary playing a lone hand while the rest of the batsmen failed to complement the Bengal right-hander’s 45-ball 60. On Sunday, Pune will hope for a better batting effort from the likes of Rahul Tripathi, Steve Smith, Ben Stokes besides Tiwary and Mahendra Singh Dhoni down the order. Opener Ajinkya Rahane’s poor run is surely a cause of concern for the hosts. In the bowling department, Pune has the huge advantage of having Englishman Stokes, whose lethal yorkers have made him the most valuable player for his franchise. Stokes is set to leave after Sunday’s tie to join his national side ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy. Young Jaydev Unadkat and Shardul Thakur have been impressive with the new ball while off-spinner Washington Sundar and leg-spinner Adam Zampa can be good options in the middle overs. Punjab, on the other hand would want openers Martin Guptill and Manan Vohra to give them a sound start before Shaun Marsh, Wriddhiman Saha and captain Glenn Maxwell can accelerate their scoring rate. All-rounder Axar Patel can also smack the ball out of the park towards the end. The visitors, however, still need to work on their bowling despite the pace duo of Sandeep Sharma and Mohit Sharma bowling some good overs at the death. Both Sandeep and Mohit were instrumental in Punjab’s narrow win over Mumbai on Thursday. Spinners Axar and Rahul Tewatia have done well to slow down the onslaught in the middle overs. Squads: Kings XI Punjab: Glenn Maxwell (Captain), Martin Guptill, Wriddhiman Saha (WK), Shaun Marsh, Darren Sammy, Manan Vohra, Axar Patel, Varun Aaron, Sandeep Sharma, Mohit Sharma, Ishant Sharma, Rahul Tewatia, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, K.C. Cariappa, Matt Henry, Anureet Singh, Armaan Jaffer, Marcus Stoinis, Swapnil Singh, Rinku Singh, Nikhil Naik, T. Natarajan, Pardeep Sahu. Rising Pune Supergiant: Steven Smith (Captain), Mahendra Singh Dhoni (WK), Rahul Tripathi, Ajinkya Rahane, Manoj Tiwary, Ben Stokes, Dan Christian, Adam Zampa, Shardul Thakur, Washington Sundar, Ankush Bains, Lockie Ferguson, Jaydev Unadkat, Usman Khawaja, Milind Tandon, Saurabh Kumar, Iswar Pandey, Jaskaran Singh, Deepak Chahar, Rahul Chahar, Rajat Bhatia, Baba Aparajith, Mayank Agarwal, Ankit Sharma, Ashok Dinda. (With inputs from IANS)
IPL 2017 Highlights RPS vs KXIP in Pune, cricket score and results: Hosts win by 9 wickets; finish second on table
Catch the Live score and all the updates of the IPL 2017 game between Rising Pune Supergiant and Kings XI Punjab in Pune
 "IPL 2017 Highlights RPS vs KXIP in Pune, cricket score and results: Hosts win by 9 wickets; finish second on table")
Excellent to see @msdhoni applaud @stevesmith49 the way he did.That partnership is the story behind the @RPSupergiants turnaround. #RPSvKXIP
— Boria Majumdar (@BoriaMajumdar) May 14, 2017
Not the end to the season we were looking for. Thank you so much for your support this season. #LivePunjabiPlayPunjabi #RPSvKXIP
— Punjab Kings (@PunjabKingsIPL) May 14, 2017
#IPL @RPSupergiants move to No. 2 on the Points Table. All set to meet @mipaltan at the Wankhede stadium on May 16 #Playoffs #RPSvKXIP pic.twitter.com/JR9SFzgNvn
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 14, 2017
An emphatic victory against KXIP pits RPS against us in the first Qualifier, on Tuesday.#RPSvKXIP #CricketMeriJaan
— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) May 14, 2017
So RPS finally keep their date with the Playoffs. That was as one sided as it gets. Even my grandmother is tutting in disapproval, so insipid was the contest. But RPS fans are happy
RPS finish second on the table, a terrific performance considering their poor start. Few would have believed it at the beginning of their campaign. They get two bites at the cherry, first against a team they are two out of two against, but sans Stokes and Tahir.
Today’s win for RPS by 58 balls remaining
– Largest for RPS by balls remaining (Prev. 32 v MI at Mumbai in 2016)
– Largest v KXIP by balls remaining by any team (Prev. 41 by PWI at Mumbai in 2011)
Points table position-wise winners in IPL:
Table-toppers – 2008 (RR)
2nd – 2011 (CSK) , 2012 (KKR), 2013 (MI), 2014 (KKR), 2015 (MI)
3rd – 2010 (CSK), 2016 (SRH)
4th – 2009 (DC)
Last five out of six times, teams who have finished second in the points table won an IPL title.
After 11 overs,Rising Pune Supergiant 67/1 ( Ajinkya Rahane 25 , Steven Smith (C) 13)
Tewatia bowls a slider around leg, Smith tickles it fine for a couple. Only 2 runs off the last five balls.
After 10 overs,Rising Pune Supergiant 62/1 ( Ajinkya Rahane 24 , Steven Smith (C) 9)
Captain Maxwell introduces himself into the attack. Rahane punches it to long on for a run. Smith clips the third ball through mid-wicket and calls Rahane for a single. Another run through mid on ins taken. Smith flat-bats his Australian team mate to the on side to score the fourth run of the over.
After 9 overs,Rising Pune Supergiant 58/1 ( Ajinkya Rahane 22 , Steven Smith (C) 7)
DROPPED! Nothing is Punjab’s way today. Rahane tries to play a slog sweep over mid-wicket, but the ball was heading straight to Guptil in the deep who fluffs it. After that shot, Pune once again decide to just rotate the strike. Three runs off the over. Umpire signals the time out. Pune need 16 off 66 balls with nine wickets in hand, think they can discuss their dinner plans.
After 9 overs,Rising Pune Supergiant 58/1 ( Ajinkya Rahane 22 , Steven Smith (C) 7)
DROPPED! Nothing is Punjab’s way today. Rahane tries to play a slog sweep over mid-wicket, but the ball was heading straight to Guptil in the deep who fluffs it. After that shot, Pune once again decide to just rotate the strike. Three runs off the over. Umpire signals the time out. Pune need 16 off 66 balls with nine wickets in hand, think they can discuss their dinner plans.
After 8 overs,Rising Pune Supergiant 55/1 ( Ajinkya Rahane 20 , Steven Smith (C) 6)
Six singles off the over. Smith and Rahane don’t want to take any risk.
After 7 overs,Rising Pune Supergiant 49/1 ( Ajinkya Rahane 17 , Steven Smith (C) 3)
A decent over from Swapnil Singh. Four singles and a couple.
punjab will be preity disappointed with this effort #RPSvKXIP
— Gaurav Kalra (@gauravkalra75) May 14, 2017
After all these years of ridiculousness, Pune has finally been tamed.
— Alagappan Vijayakumar (@IndianMourinho) May 14, 2017
No wonder it is under Steve Smith.
After 6 overs,Rising Pune Supergiant 43/1 ( Ajinkya Rahane 13 , Steven Smith (C) 1)
Rahane welcomes Axar with a boundary to covers. Takes a single off the second ball. Tripathi falls, a bit too late though. Smith arrives at the crease and takes a run straightaway. Seven runs off the over.
After 5 overs,Rising Pune Supergiant 36/0 ( Ajinkya Rahane 7 , Rahul Tripathi 28)
Maxwell introduces spin for the first time but the Tripathi onslaught continues. Tewatia tosses the ball and its enough for Tripathi to kneel and slog it over mid-wicket for a maximum. Barring the six, five dot balls came in the over.
After 4 overs,Rising Pune Supergiant 30/0 ( Ajinkya Rahane 7 , Rahul Tripathi 22)
Tripathi continues his natural game. Ishant bowls it slightly wide and Tripathi cuts it through backward point for a boundary. Poor delivery Ishant! Strays it around leg, Rahul just tickles it fine for another boundary. A back of a length delivery on the fifth ball, Rahul gets over the ball and taps it to third man for a comfortable brace. A single to third man again to finish the over.
After 3 overs,Rising Pune Supergiant 18/0 ( Ajinkya Rahane 6 , Rahul Tripathi 11)
Sandeep starts his second over with a wide. Two singles come off the first two balls. Oh good shot! Again uses his feet and pulls it over deep square leg for a boundary. Nine runs off the over.
After 2 overs,Rising Pune Supergiant 9/0 ( Ajinkya Rahane 4 , Rahul Tripathi 5
Rahane opens the face of the bat and runs it down to third man for a single. Tripathi is not changing his style one bit, charges down the track and slams it through covers to score the first boundary of the innings. Mohit bowls a slower ball on the last ball, it takes ages to reach Rahul who pulls it to long leg to retain strike.
After 1 over, Rising Pune Supergiant 3/0 ( Ajinkya Rahane 3 , Rahul Tripathi 0)
The first ball is right on the money, and a hint of swing on the second ball. Rahane plays it away towards cover and gets Pune underway with a couple. Such a damp squib this performance has been by Punjab, after all the good work in the past few matches. They had bowled out Delhi under 70 runs, can they do it against Pune too? Well, they have to, if they are to qualify for the play-offs. Rahane opens the face of the bat and gets the ball to third man for a single on the last ball for a single. Three runs from the first over.
Lowest totals defended in T20 cricket:
78 – Himachal Pradesh v Services, Rohtak, 2013
81 – Maharashtra v Saurashtra, Baroda, 2010
89 – Saurashtra v Gujarat, Baroda, 2010
Shardul Thakur must be feeling great with this performance against his former team KXIP who had sent him back midway last year#RPSvKXIP
— Sarang Bhalerao (@bhaleraosarang) May 14, 2017
Shardul has dealt a body blow to the franchise that didn't even consider him good enough to be part of the reserves for two seasons. #IPL
— Shashank Kishore (@captainshanky) May 14, 2017
Highest difference between two consecutive innings in IPL:
164 – RCB (213, 49), 2017
157 – KXIP (230, 73), 2017*
148 – DD (214, 66), 2017
Lowest totals for Kings XI Punjab in IPL:
73 v Rising Pune Supergiant, Pune, 2017*
88 v Royal Challengers Bangalore, Bangalore, 2015
92/8 v Chennai Super Kings, Durban, 2009
Clearly @lionsdenkxip reserved worst for last. Pressure? This is limp from them. @RPSupergiants will finish 2nd. 7th in 2016, 2nd this year.
— Boria Majumdar (@BoriaMajumdar) May 14, 2017
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