The result of Match no 52 of Indian Premier League 2017 the Feroz Shah Kotla ground was not as consequential for the teams playing; but much more so for the Kings XI Punjab. So when the Delhi Daredevils took on the Pune Supergiants, it was the KXIP who was watching keenly to see who won. With only one team; the Mumbai Indians having qualified for advancing in IPL2017, three other spots are still technically open.
Rising Pune Supergiants, sitting pretty at no 3 on the points table went up against the Delhi Daredevils team which is at No 6 on the table with practically no hope of making the playoffs.
Winning the toss, the home team decided to bat first; rather uncommon in this competition. Karun Nair came through with an excellent innings of 64 off 45 studded with 9 boundaries. Rishabh Pant (36 off 22) and Marlon Samuels (27 off 21) were the other significant contributors to the team’s total of 168/8 in their 20 overs.
Skipper Zaheer Khan struck on the very first ball to dismiss Ajinkya Rahane. With this, he entered the elite club of bowlers who have taken 100 wickets in the IPL.
Skipper Steve Smith steadied the innings with his 38 off 32. Manoy Tiwary came through with 60 off 45 and Ben Stokes contributed with 33 off 25. However Delhi bowlers kept the pressure up and a sharp runout of M S Dhoni turned things in favour of the home team.
The match went down to the wire; a last over battle between Manoj Tiwary & Pat Cummins. With 25 needed off the last 6 balls, Tiwary hit back to back sixes but ultimately DD won by 7 runs; Cummins getting his revenge by taking his wicket.
Ben Stokes received the award for the perfect Catch of the Match and also for the Stylish Player of the Day. Manoj Tiwary bagged the Maximum Sixes award. The Player of the Match award went to Karun Nair for his 64 runs.
A win for RPS would have meant qualifying; however the loss doesn’t mean they will not qualify. For DD who are all but out of the competition, it was a matter of pride and performing well on a given day. The match was of greater importance for Kings XI Punjab, because RPS’s loss actually improves their chances especially with their own improved form in recent times.
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