IPL Results 2017: Pune Move Closer to Play-Offs with Win over Kolkata
May 3, 2017
Kolkata Knight Riders batsman Shakib Al Hasan plays a shot during the 2016 Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 cricket match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Eden Gardens Cricket Stadium in Kolkata on May 22, 2016.. ----IMAGE RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - STRICTLY NO COMMERCIAL USE----- / GETTYOUT / AFP / Dibyangshu SARKAR (Photo credit should read DIBYANGSHU SARKAR/AFP/Getty Images)
Rising Pune Supergiant took a major step toward Indian Premier League play-off qualification on Wednesday, beating Kolkata Knight Riders by four wickets.
The win widens the gap between Pune and Kings XI Punjab, the next team in the standings. With just over 10 days of group-stage action remaining, things are looking up for the IPL's top four.
Here's a look at the current standings:
Team
PL
W
L
D
N/R
PTS
NET RR
Mumbai Indians
10
8
2
0
0
16
+0.427
Kolkata Knight Riders
11
7
4
0
0
14
+0.725
Rising Pune Supergiant
11
7
4
0
0
14
-0.123
Sunrisers Hyderabad
11
6
4
0
1
13
+0.659
Kings XI Punjab
9
4
5
0
0
8
+0.228
Delhi Daredevils
9
3
6
0
0
6
-0.094
Gujarat Lions
10
3
7
0
0
6
-0.323
Royal Challengers Bangalore
11
2
8
0
1
5
-1.441
The schedule for the upcoming matches:
Date
Time
Home
Away
Thursday, May 4
3:30 p.m. BST/8 p.m. local/10:30 a.m. ET
Delhi Daredevils
Gujarat Lions
Friday, May 5
3:30 p.m. BST/8 p.m. local/10:30 a.m. ET
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Kings XI Punjab
Saturday, May 6
11:30 p.m./ 4 p.m. local/ 6:30 a.m. ET
Hyderabad Sunrisers
Rising Pune Supergiant
Saturday, May 6
3:30 p.m. BST/8 p.m. local/10:30 a.m. ET
Delhi Daredevils
Mumbai Indians
Rising Pune Supergiant vs. Kolkata Knight Riders
Pune, 158-6 (Tripathi 93, Stokes 14) beat Kolkata, 155-8 (Pandey 37, De Grandhomme 36) by four wickets (with four balls remaining).
Rahul Tripathi was the big hero for the visitors, who boosted their play-off chances tremendously with a win over in-form Kolkata at Eden Gardens.
Tripathi scored 93 from 52 to get the chase off to a fast start and kept his knock going until the final overs when he was caught. As shared by ESPN Cricinfo's Freddie Wilde, he continued his dominance in the Powerplay:
Tripathi, with 251 runs, is the leading Powerplay run-scorer this season & has scored them at a rate of 10.45 runs per over. #IPL
Daniel Christian scored the winning runs in the final over with a massive six, capping off a good chase that got into a bit of trouble toward the end.
Knight Riders had opened with a sloppy innings, which saw Manish Pandey, Colin de Grandhomme and Suryakumar Yadav all go for more than 30 but the final total rest at a mere 155. For once, the team's big hitters, like Gautam Gambhir and Yusuf Pathan, came up short.
Kolkata Knight Riders captain Gautam Gambhir plays a shot during the 2016 Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 cricket match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad at The Eden Gardens Cricket Stadium in Kolkata on May 22, 2016. ----IMAGE RE
Kolkata's bowlers are renowned for their ability to take wickets, however, and they lived up to the lofty expectations on Wednesday. With the exception of Tripathi, Ben Stokes (14 from 15) and Ajinkya Rahane (11 from nine), none of the Pune batsmen scored in double digits, and the latter two didn't set the world alight, either.
But thanks to Tripathi's near-century, it didn't matter. The 26-year-old powered the chase by himself, and while his fellow batsmen slowed down even further in the final overs to add some drama to the match, the visitors got it done in the end.
The win vaults Pune into third place, level on points with Kolkata. Both sides seem destined for the play-offs, with the gap between the top four and the other teams significant, both in level of play and points in the standings.
