IPL 10, Match 55, RPS v KXIP Review: Rising Pune Supergiant rout Kings to march into playoffs

Coming into the penultimate game of the IPL 10, the stakes were high with Rising Pune Supergiant hosting the Kings XI Punjab. The game was a knockout game with a heavy prize at stake. The winners would have taken it all and the losers crashing outside. A win in the match would have sealed the fourth and the final spot in the list of the playoffs teams. On the other hand, the losing side would have crashed out of the tournament.

In the match, it was the RPS who had the home advantage. However, the winning momentum was pretty much with the Kings XI Punjab. KXIP had won their last two games are were riding sky high on the confidence levels. Amidst this scenario, the two skippers walked into the middle for the toss. It was Rising Pune Supergiant skipper Steve Smith who won the toss and opted to field first.

The Kings drafted in the services of Eoin Morgan at the expense of Matt Henry. On the other hand, RPS stuck to the same combination. A horror start awaited the Kings as Martin Guptill perished on the very first delivery of the match. Jaydev Unadkat managed to get his scalp. Wriddhiman Saha and Shaun Marsh then tried to settle the scores in the middle. However, the partnership lasted only 19 runs.

Marsh was dismissed on 10 in the 4th over of the match as Shardul Thakur bagged his first on the day. In the next over, Eoin Morgan had to walk back on 4 due to stunning fielding effort from Unadkat. At 24/3, things looked grim. It only got from bad to worse as Shardul Thakur got a double strike in the fifth over. He managed to dismiss Rahul Tewatia (4) and Glenn Maxwell (0) to have KXIP reeling on 32/5.

With half the side back in the hut in the powerplay, things were pretty much dusted for the KXIP. It was only a matter of time that the other half of the lineup fell like ten-pins too. Wickets kept tumbling as Kings XI Punjab bundled out for a paltry 73 in 15.5 overs. Shardul Thakur was the pick of the bowlers as he returned with figures of 3/19 in his four overs. Dan Christian, Unadkat, and Adam Zampa picked two wickets each.

And the run chase…

In the run chase, Rahul Tripathi and Ajinkya Rahane got off to a brilliant start. Tripathi, in particular, looked in a hurry as he hit 28 off 20 balls with 4 fours and a six. He was dismissed in the 6th over by Axar Patel. Skipper Steve Smith and Rahane only completed the proceedings to steer Rising Pune Supergiant to a convincing 9-wicket win. Rahane remained unbeaten on a run-a-ball 34 and Smith remained not out on 15 that came off 18 balls.

With the win, the RPS camp now heads to Mumbai for the Qualifier 1, where they will take on the Mumbai Indians.

Brief Scores:

Kings XI Punjab 73/10 (Axar 22, Saha 13, Shardul 3/19, Christian 2/10)

Rising Pune Supergiant 78/1 in 12 overs (Rahane 34*, Tripathi 28, Axar 1/13)

Check full scorecard here.

Check points table here.