IPL 2017: Kings XI Punjab vs Rising Pune Supergiant, Player Ratings
On an even paced surface, Kings XI Punjab won the toss and decided to chase. When confronted with tight bowling, Rising Pune Supergiant lost early wickets and began to stutter in the middle-overs. However, some uninhibited hitting from all-rounder Ben Stokes as well as Manoj Tiwary carried their total to a respectable 163.
Even as the tricky chase appeared to be see-sawing from one direction to the next, skipper Glenn Maxwell joined hands with the experienced David Miller and took Punjab to an emphatic six-wicket victory.
Let us take a close look at who did what in the fascinating contest.
Kings XI Punjab
Glenn Maxwell – 9
Coming into the equation with the team requiring 81 runs from 56 balls, Maxwell made mincemeat of Pune’s bowling unit and ensured that the chase was all smooth sailing from then on. The captain’s 20-ball 44 was studded with four gigantic maximums.
David Miller – 8.5
An integral part of Kings XI’s setup, Miller showed his ability to read the situation cleverly. Realising that all he needed to do was to feed the strike to Maxwell, the left-hander played his part by offering steady support at the other end. As the chase neared its finishing line, he came into his own.
Axar Patel – 8.5
Apart from keeping things incredibly quiet in the middle-overs with his stump-to-stump line, Axar also provided Kings XI with the timely wicket of Stokes. Surprisingly promoted up the order, he contributed with a 22-ball 24. The only question mark over his performance today was the unconvincing strike-rate.
Sandeep Sharma – 7.5
As he so often does, Sandeep picked up a vital early wicket. Unleashing a slew of in-swingers to opener Mayank Agarwal, the 23-year-old got one to move in late and breached the batsman’s defence. Even though he did come in for some hammering in the final over of the innings, the right-armer’s economy rate was still quite reasonable.
Thangarasu Natarajan – 7.5
One of the heartwarming stories from the auction, Natarajan stormed into the limelight with the key wicket of Ajinkya Rahane off his very second delivery. Predominantly sticking to the full and wide line, the left-armer held his own on what could be labelled as a batting-friendly pitch.
Marcus Stoinis – 7
Stoinis managed to procure the prized scalp of Steven Smith before the Pune skipper could impart significant damage. With Maxwell and Miller sealing the deal, he was not required to bat.
Swapnil Singh – 7
From a couple of overs, Swapnil gave away just 14 runs. More importantly, the left-arm spinner got MS Dhoni into a tangle before getting rid of the veteran with a tossed-up delivery. The return catch though contained quite a few nervous moments.
Hashim Amla – 6.5
Usually a crisp timer of the ball, Amla could not quite find the gaps with his customary ease this time around. A few boundaries were interspersed with numerous dot-balls which brought down his strike-rate to an insufficient 103.70.
Mohit Sharma – 6.5
Mohit's figures could have looked completely different had Manan Vohra held on to the opportunity provided by Rahane. Even though his full quota of overs cost 34 runs, the seamer had to bowl at the tougher stages of the innings.
Wriddhiman Saha – 5.5
The wicket-keeper batsman came in at number three and started to unfurl a flurry of boundaries. As he looked at home against pace, Smith brought in leg-spinner Imran Tahir to unsettle him. The end result saw Saha unable to decipher the well-disguised googly.
Manan Vohra – 5
Despite beginning promisingly with a six and four, Vohra‘s ultra-aggressive approach became his own undoing. A shorter delivery from Ashok Dinda cramped him into an uncomfortable position even as the accompanying top-edge was gobbled up by the gleeful catcher.