IPL 9, Match 20 Review: KKR win a cliffhanger contest in Pune

The Rising Pune Supergiants skipper MS Dhoni had a lot to worry prior to the game against the Kolkata Knight Riders at home. Despite doing everything right on the field, the Supergiants failed to get the winning combination. On the other hand, the Kolkata Knight Riders were soaring high on confidence with 3 good wins under their belt and their skipper, Gautam Gambhir, being in sublime form.

Having won the toss, Gambhir put Dhoni’s men into bat first. KKR had to make a forced change as Manish Pandey was ruled out due to chicken pox and replaced him with R Sathish. MS Dhoni played an extra batsman in the form of Saurabh Tiwary and brought in Albie Morkel in place of injured Kevin Pietersen. An anchoring knock by Ajinkya Rahane was supported by cameos from Steve Smith and MS Dhoni that took RPS to 160/5 in their 20 overs. The KKR run chase was rocked back early with 3 wickets but the run-scoring never went down kudos to Suryakumar Yadav and Yusuf Pathan. But a flurry of wickets saw the chase being halted at regular intervals. In the end, Perera failed to defend 7 in the last over and KKR won by 2 wickets.

Earlier in the day, coming in to bat first, the Rising Pune Supergiants received an early blow as Faf du Plessis was cleaned up by Shakib Al Hasan. Rahane, on the other hand, continued from the form that he had in the previous game. Delightful strokes came from his bat and he was joined by Steve Smith. Smith, however, looked uneasy at the crease and was nowhere at his best. He was run out on second successive occasion on 31 by Sathish.

Thisara Perera was promoted up the order to hit a few mighty ones but could manage to hit just one six before getting out on 12. Albie Morkel hit a couple of sixes too, in his innings of 16 off 9 balls before being bowled by Umesh Yadav. In the meantime, Ajinkya Rahane batted sensibly to notch up his third fifty this season. He was caught and bowled in the 18th over by Sunil Narine. MS Dhoni then came up with some final big hits, 2 fours and a six in his innings of 23 off 12 balls, to take the score to 160/5 at the end of 20 overs.

RPS had an excellent beginning as KKR opener Robin Uthappa was trapped lbw first ball by Albie Morkel. Skipper Gautam Gambhir couldn’t score much either and was run out on 11 after hitting two boundaries. For the first time, the KKR middle order without Manish Pandey was exposed early in the innings. Suryakumar Yadav hit his way out with some power hitting and KKR posted 59/2 by the end of powerplay. Shakib had an uncomfortable 9-ball stay at the crease and was bowled by an off-cutter by Rajat Bhatia.

Yusuf Pathan came into the middle. The RPS bowlers did well to pull back the game in their favour with few tight overs. Meanwhile, Surya brought up his half century in 40 deliveries. Yusuf got into his groove too, targeting Murugan Ashwin. The game looked as good as gone for the Supergiants but Bhatia struck again and dismissed Pathan for 36 that came off 27 balls. Suryakumar threatened to take the game away but Murugan trapped him right in front of stumps to dismiss him for 60 off 49 deliveries with 6 fours and 2 sixes. KKR lost both their set batsmen in the span of 10 balls.

The Knight Riders needed 43 off the last 4 overs with Andre Russell and R Sathish at the crease. Ankit Sharma bowled the 17th over and went for 18 runs as Russell smacked him for 2 sixes in the over. Perera bowled the 18th over and got rid of Russell on 17 (11). In walked Piyush Chawla and hit a four on the first ball he faced. Needing 18 to win off 12 balls, Morkel was given the penultimate over. Sathish hit the very first ball for massive 6 to get the game in the favour of Knights. The match saw another twist as Morkel cleaned up Sathish on 10. Needing 7 off the last over and with Chawla on strike, MS threw the ball to Perera. Chawla perished after getting a couple and KKR were 8 down. Just when everyone thought that Pune might steal the game from here, Umesh Yadav hit a big blow for a six to seal the game for KKR. KKR won by 2 wickets.

Brief Scores:

Rising Pune Supergiant – 160/5 in 20 overs (Ajinkya Rahane 67; Shakib al Hasan 1/14)

Kolkata Knight Riders – 162/8 in 19.3 overs (Surya Yadav 60; Thisara Perera 1/28)

Man of the Match: Surya Kumar Yadav