Summary: That was one breath taking match. RPS, who was supposed to have started strong faltered since their inception into the match and It was just Stokes and Tiwary leading the team until the English man too went down. Christian came in late with an enthralling cameo to give the Pune-based team a total of 163.
Kings, playing their first match were brewing with confidence after their brilliance with the ball. Despite losing that early wicket of Vohra, Maxwell and Miller combined well to power their team to a nail-biting finisher and get that two points.
Man of the match: Glenn Maxwell got the award for his whirlwind knock off 44 runs from 20 balls.
Over 19 | Score 164/4 | Maxwell 44* ; Miller 30*
7 off 12 deliveries now. Stokes going around the wicket to Miller. Short delivery and Miller pulls it for a boundary down square leg side. 3 needed more. Maxwell on strike now. Stokes changes side. Thats a blunder! Single to finish things off. Kings emerge victorious. Wins by six wickets
Over 18 | Score 157/4 | Maxwell 43* ; Miller 24*
Dinda starts the over. Yorker and gives away a single. 18 off 17 now. Zinta's anxious look, cheering for Kings. Good short ball from Dinda. Miller failed to pull that one, flied over his head. Chips it over midwicket and Miller gets a six. Two off another yorker.
Over 17 | Score 145/4 | Maxwell 42* ; Miller 14*
Chahar is the bowler now. But starts with the wrong end. Loud appeal! Maxwell goes for a typical reverse shot but fails, appeal for an LBW. Gets a leg bye. Good over.
Over 16 | Score 142/4 | Maxwell 42* ; Miller 12*
Tahir returns. Has to get another now. Probably he has the recipe. But Maxwell has different plan altogether. Beautiful six and then another. Maxwell is ruling the Indore pitch. Two back-to-back six. RPS in danger. 21 off 24 balls now needed.
Over 15 | Score 128/4 | Maxwell 29* ; Miller 11*
RPS desperate to break this partnership. Outside the off stump and Maxwell cuts it hard down the cover to get the boundary. Straight ball and Maxwell makes way to muscle it down the line to get another six.
Over 14 | Score 116/4 | Maxwell 18* ; Miller 10*
Bhatia with the ball now. Just short of a length and Maxwell drives it down cover for a boundary. Another slow delivery, straight and Miller knocks it down the line for a six. Strategic time-out.
Over 13 | Score 103/4 | Maxwell 14* ; Miller 3*
Chahar smashed for a six by the skipper. Staright down the line and that was humongous. Not surprising though from the Aussie. And then a ravishing boundary off the fourth delivery. Turns it to middle stump and Maxwell punches it towards deep midwicket. Struggling 100 comes up for Punjab.
Over 12 | Score 88/4 | Maxwell 2* ; Miller 1*
Tahir returns to scalp yet another of his first delivery. Outside off and Axar goes for the big one but the ball floats high in the air to fall staright to Tahir. Clinical from the leggie.
AR Patel c & b Imran Tahir 24 (22b)
Miller walks in.
Over 11 | Score 85/3 | Maxwell 0* ; Axar 24*
Chahar continues. Smashes for a six over lon on. Axar slogs it well of that outside off delivery. Similar delivery to Amla it skids off the lower end of the bat and Stokes it comfortably at long-off. Amal departs and all cheer for the young debutant.
HM Amla c Stokes b Chahar 28 (27b)
Skipper Maxwell comes in. 12 off the over.
Over 10 | Score 73/2 | Amla 27* ; Axar 16*
Now Rajat Bhatia into the attack. Good combination of bowlers used by Smith. A little less than 100 to go now for the Kings. Have too pick up the scoring pace now. RPS is playing some attacking stuff here. Excellent, excellent.
Over 9 | Score 66/2 | Amla 23* ; Axar 11*
Rahul Chahar making his debut today. Gives away a single off the first ball. Decent start for the youngster.
Over 8 | Score 62/2 | Amla 22* ; Axar 10*
Tahir returns. Late cut by Axar but fails to get a run. RR now dips to just below 8. Real tight bowling. Two real good over from RPS.
Over 7 | Score 59/2 | Amla 21* ; Axar 8*
Stokes back in. Two singles of the first two deliveries. Three from it. Very good over.
Over 6 | Score 56/2 | Amla 20* ; Axar 6*
And now the spinner comes in. Imran Tahir is the new bowler. Only two fielders inside the circle. Does his work again. Googly googled Saha and rips off the stump.
WP Saha b Imran Tahir 13 (9b)
Surprise entry- Axar Patel and strikes a boundary.
Over 5 | Score 48/1 | Amla 18* ; Saha 14*
Kings in complete control of the game. Despite that early blow, they are the ones dictating the game. Stokes starts. Excellent cover, sailing through the air and Christian leaps to take it. Applauding attempt indeed. Saha theis time getting it correct. Timely cover drive, between the two fielders and gets a four. And now straight down the ground for a four. Saha smashing in Test, now in T20s.
Over 4 | Score 38/1 | Amla 17* ; Saha 5*
Saha, the new batsman at crease. Elegant shot of his backfoot. Outside off and drives it past the cover for a boundary. Claasy way to get off the mark. Stunning stroke from Amla! Sails it over midwicket for a six.
Over 3 | Score 27/1 | Amla 11* ; Saha 0*
Dinda to start again. And down the line, sky high and to the second tier. Gossh! Vohra strikes it high! RR already above 10 now. Kings are on the right track now. Short delivery and Vohra steps out to pull the shot and top edge, hangs way high. Tiwary at deep square leg moves left to take the catch.
M Vohra c Tiwary b Dinda 14 (9b)
Over 2 | Score 19/0 | Amla 10* ; Vohra 7*
Christian is the new bowler. Surprise delivery. Zips inches past the bat. Dhoni left astonished too. Then a wide, wide delivery. And finally a four. Boomer down off side and Vohar puts it over backward point for a boundary. Another wide in the over. Last ball and Amla pushes it down deep square leg for a boundary.
Over 1 | Score 6/0 | Amla 5* ; Vohra 1*
164 off 120 balls at 8.20 per over. Its Amla and Vohar up there for the Kings, while for RPS its Dinda again starting off. Gave away an expensive last over in the opening match. Have to avoid it today. Also must have confidence today after Smith kept him in the starting XI.
Third ball and Amla gets a thick edge putting it past the slip to score a boundary. Tidy start from Dinda.
164 to win from 120 balls for KXIP.
Over 20 | Score 163/6 | Bhatia 0* ; M Tiwary 40*
Last over now. Sandeep Sharma to finish it off for Punjab. Tiwary is at strike. Gets a single. Outside leg stump this time and a cheeky shot to push it down the leg slip area. Yet another four. Entralling from Christian. Slightly chips it over the keeper and all would do nothing but gaze at that beauty. Short ball and Christian pulls it for a six. But how long can you smash. Down the line shot and Maxwell at deep to catch it. Good cameo.
DT Christian c Maxwell b Sandeep Sharma 17 (8b)
Last ball and Tiwary on strike. Single to finish their innings. 164 to win from 120 balls for KXIP.
Over 19 | Score 147/5 | Christian 2* ; M Tiwary 38*
Mohit Sharma in his last over. Time for RPS to hit. And there it is. Terrific strike down the line and and thats a six from Tiwary. Low ball, Christian bends to hit it over the rope , but just short of the fielder at deep mid wicket to take it. Lucky! Tiwary now, four. Same region.
Over 18 | Score 132/5 | Christian 1* ; M Tiwary 26*
Axar back into the attack. Gets the costliest player this year. Places it wide and Stokes strikes it hard. Skids of the bat and stright into the hands of the bowler. Frustrated Stokes departs.
BA Stokes c & b Patel 50 (32b)
Christian is the next batsman.
Over 17 | Score 128/4 | Stokes 50* ; M Tiwary 25*
Mohit Sharma returns. Stokes got bat changed. The duo have indeed pulled the score hard. Indeed it looked difficult after those four early blows. Sharma changing pace. RR now over 7.50. Terrific cover drive from Tiwary, but applauding fielding there too. Stokes gets his first IPL half-century.
Over 16 | Score 123/4 | Stokes 47* ; M Tiwary 23*
Stoinis returns, replacing Axar Patel. Gets a risky two off the first delivery. Good running between the wicket. Stokes! Steps out and smashes it low over long-on for a six. He is firing now. Good partnership, a much neede one though. KXIP need to strike another one down. This is the time when they will ket loose their strokes, they have to bank on that. The Kings are still in control of the game and they should maintain it. Another four and fifty partnership comes up too.
Over 15 | Score 108/4 | Stokes 37* ; M Tiwary 18*
Natarajan continues. Oh.. Tiwary going for unorthodox shots. Should try when one is standing tall with confidence. Stokes has till now played just one dot ball. Thats commendable from the English man. And now a six from Tiwary. Places it way wide and Tiwary slices it over third-man to get that six. Given their condition, they do need more of it. 10 off the over.
Over 14 | Score 96/4 | Stokes 35* ; M Tiwary 10*
Axar continues after that time-out. Stokes on fire now. First a boundary to midwicket and then a hard hitting six. Powered it way over the bowler, down the line.
Over 13 | Score 84/4 | Stokes 23* ; M Tiwary 8*
Natarajan returns to trouble. Two sing;les in the first two deliveries. Slower delivery, pushed to sqaure leg. Fourth ball, places it near leg and Tiwary volleys it low over cover for a boundary. Nine of the over. Secon strategic time-out.
Over 12 | Score 75/4 | Stokes 20* ; M Tiwary 2*
Swapnil to Dhoni. First ball, smashes it to the cover, but fielder just in place to stop the single. Second ball, turns of the bat and stright to the bowler. Couple of anxious juggle and finally gets hold of the ball to dismiss Dhoni. Trouble in RPS dressing room.
MS Dhoni c & b Swapnil Singh 5 (11b)
Monoj Tiwary gets to bat now. Big over for Swapnil- 4 runs and that big wicket.
Over 11 | Score 71/3 | Stokes 18* ; Dhoni 5*
Stoinis into the attack. Nice way to finish of the over. Outside off to Stokes, and he gets the nick to edge it past the slip region for a boundary.
Over 10 | Score 63/3 | Stokes 13* ; Dhoni 3*
Swapnil Singh, slow left-arm bowler, introduced. It is time that the two do some hard work and hit some boundaries. And there you go! Stokes finishing ithe over in style, striking the big one. SIX!
Over 9 | Score 53/3 | Stokes 5* ; Dhoni 1*
Stoinis introduced. Pressing it to the leg side and umpire signals a wide. Secoond ball, cross-seam delivery, upper edge and flies to the deep square and Vohra, this time making no mistake. The skipper departs early. Its Aussie sending back Aussie.
SPD Smith c Vohra b Stoinis 26 (27b)
RPS in real danger today. Kings are actually ruling at Holkar, with complete control of the game. Dhoni is out on the field.
That was a narrow escape for Dhoni. Fourth ball, inside edge and goes from behind the wicket. RR now below 6.
Over 8 | Score 48/2 | Stokes 3* ; Smith 26*
Axar spinning his way. Around the wicket to Stokes. Pushes it to long-on to take one run. Run Rate now at 6. Another tight over. Six of the over.
Over 7 | Score 42/2 | Stokes 1* ; Smith 23*
And the bowler is here. T Natarajan, 25-year-old from Tamil Nadu. Lots of expectations from the selectors. Smashed down cover, but Amla in the deep, Smith gets a single. Off the second ball, and the young lad gets the big wicket as Rahane departs early. Smilar delivery pressing towards off stump and Rahane opens the bats to strike it over cover, but Christian there to comfortably take the catch.
AM Rahane c Miller b Natarajan 19 (15b)
Stokes is the next batsman. Smith comes down hard, shooting it down the wicket for a four.
Over 6 | Score 35/1 | Rahane 19* ; Smith 16*
And slowly the momentum is shifting. Axar Patel brought in. Run rate now touching 6.5. Two good deliveries to thye leg side and both the attempts failed at strikeing a boundary. Fine over from Kings.
Over 5 | Score 32/1 | Rahane 18* ; Smith 14*
Sandeep back in. Three singles of the first three balls. And finallt Smith plays his favourite cover drive to smash a ripper of that off side placed delivery. And yet another comes up from the skipper. This time stepping out and driving it down cover.
Over 4 | Score 20/1 | Rahane 16* ; Smith 4*
Mohit back with the ball. Excellent first delivery. Staright, slightly flatter to the off stump. Rahane steps out to strike it, but misses it. Another similar delivery and a desperate attempt to go for it. Leading edge and flies high over cover region but Vohra makes a blunder to drp that catch. Result, six of the third delivery and then a ravishing late cute to strike a boundary to third man. You dont drop such an important batsman.
Over 3 | Score 7/1 | Rahane 4* ; Smith 3*
Excellent start from Punjab. Sandeep back into the attack. Flick to the leg side and Smith takes a single to put Rahane on strike. Sliced to third man to rotate strike. Would be currently doing these to settle in, build on that pressure slowly.
Over 2 | Score 3/1 | Rahane 2* ; Smith 1*
RPS starts of with an early blow. But these are two batsmen who can indeed make up for the situation. But for Kings, thats a stunning way to kick-off things. Mohit Sharma is the new bowler. After a long time and has a good record against the Aussie in IPL. Scalped his wicket twice while giving away just 25 of 26 balls. Two of the over.
Over 1 | Score 1/1 | Rahane 1* ; Smith 0*
This is RPS' second match this season. We all do remember how they had got better of their opponent in the opening match in a nail-biting last over decider. KXIP on the other hand are yet to show what they have in their reserve.
The players are out on the field ready to light up Indore's Holkar stadium. Rahane and Mayank up their for RPS, while Sandeep Sharma for KXIP.
Sandeep to Rahane, single of the first ball. There is glimpse of Priety Zinta, cheering for her team. Fifth ball, superb turn , seaming through the bat and pad and ripping off the middle stump. Beautiful start from the Kings.
MA Agarwal b Sandeep Sharma 0 (4b)
Smith walks in.
Play Hard, Play Fair - Spirit of Cricket at #IPL - @Gmaxi_32 and @stevesmith49 pic.twitter.com/EsqkjpPH2O
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 8, 2017
The #IPL Opening event at Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore #KXIPvRPS #KXIP pic.twitter.com/vI1YpxvwJw
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 8, 2017
#IPL Match 4 - Here are the Playing XIs for @lionsdenkxip vs. @RPSupergiants pic.twitter.com/pkLnv862t7
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 8, 2017
15:35 IST: SQUAD CHANGES! Dan Christain replaces Adam Zampa, Rahul Chahar comes in for Deepak Chahar.
15:30 IST: KXIP chose to field, putting Steve Smith and Co. to bat first.
15:17 IST: Bollywood actress Disha Patani has already set the stage on fire with her moves.
The #IPL Opening event at Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore #KXIPvRPS #KXIP pic.twitter.com/vI1YpxvwJw
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 8, 2017
15:10 IST: Here's the two captain Glenn Maxwell and Steve Smith pledging for MCC's Spirit of Cricket.
Play Hard, Play Fair - Spirit of Cricket at #IPL - @Gmaxi_32 and @stevesmith49 pic.twitter.com/EsqkjpPH2O
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 8, 2017
15:05 IST: Here's a look at KXIP's journey in the IPL so far:-
Introducing @lionsdenkxip #IPL #KXIP #LivePunjabiPlayPunjabi #KXIPvRPS pic.twitter.com/f5X0XnowjS
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 8, 2017
Heading into the Match 4 of the 2017 IPL season, Rising Pune Supergiant will be looking to build on their highly impressive victory over Mumbai Indians as they prepare to lock horns with Kings XI Punjab.
Steve Smith, who led his side from the front with a superb knock of 84 runs will be up against fellow Australian Glenn Maxwell's team.
Moving away from Mohali, the hosts KXIP will be conducting some of their home matches including this one at the Holkar Stadium, Indore and will be hoping to get their formiddable batting line-up – Eoin Morgan, David Miller, Hashim Amla, Martin Guptill, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis – firing from the word go. (IPL - Full Coverage | Schedule)
Ishant Sharma was a late inclusion in the squad but will he be playing KXIP's opener, remains to be seen.
RPS, meanwhile, have a very balanced squad and will be relying upon the spin combination of Imran Tahir and Adam Zampa to pick wickets on regular intervals while the pace combo of Ashok Dinda and Deepak Chahar will eye considerable improvement.
Here's everything you need to know about the third match of the season:-
Likely playing XIs
Kings XI Punjab: Manan Vohra, Glenn Maxwell (c), Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Eoin Morgan, David Miller, Marcus Stoinis, Axar Patel, KC Cariappa, Sandeep Sharma, Ishant Sharma, T Natarajan
Rising Pune Supergiant: Ajinkya Rahane, Mayank Agarwal, Steven Smith (c), Ben Stokes, MS Dhoni (wk), Manoj Tiwary, Rajat Bhatia, Jaydev Unadkat, Imran Tahir, Shardul Thakur, Adam Zampa
When and where to watch the match:
Date & Time: April 8 (Friday) at 16:00 IST
Venue: Holkar Stadium, Indore
TV Listing: Sony Six, Sony Six HD, Sony ESPN, Sony ESPN HD and SET MAX.
Online Streaming: Sony LIV, Hotstar
RPS' next match: Against Delhi Daredevils in Pune on April 11 (Tuesday).
KXIP's next match: Against Royal Challengers Bangalore in Indore on April 10 (Monday).
