The Kings XI Punjab locked horns against the Kolkata Knight Riders in the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium yesterday. The match was an important one, considering the scramble that the last leg of the IPL always comes up with.
The match would either fix a position in the playoffs for KKR or keep KXIP’s hopes alive for the same. At the end, it was the latter as the Maxwell-led side took charge and defended a total of 167 as they halted KKR to 153/6. The win was tight and tense, but completely worth it. The points table now stands at an extremely interesting position wherein the Kings XI Punjab, the Rising Pune Supergiant, the Sunrisers Hyderabad and even the Kolkata Knight Riders will all tussle for the final playoff berths.
Chris Lynn was back at his best with a firepower 84 and even got to his usual firing start with Sunil Narine, but none of the other KKR batsmen could capitalise after the duo put 61 in the powerplay overs. KXIP bowlers, especially Mohit Sharma and Rahul Tewatia, pulled things back beautifully to set up a cracking win for their team.
Let us now look at the leading run scorers and wicket takers after KXIP vs KKR.
Leading run scorers:
| Position | Player | Matches | Innings | Runs | Average | Strike Rate | 100s | 50s | Highest |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | David Warner (SRH) | 12 | 12 | 535 | 53.5 | 146.58 | 1 | 3 | 126 |
| 2 | Shikhar Dhawan (SRH) | 12 | 12 | 450 | 40.91 | 127.84 | 0 | 3 | 77 |
| 3 | Suresh Raina (GL) | 12 | 12 | 434 | 48.22 | 146.13 | 0 | 3 | 84 |
| 4 | Gautam Gambhir (KKR) | 13 | 13 | 433 | 43.3 | 127.73 | 0 | 4 | 76* |
| 5 | Hashim Amla (KXIP) | 10 | 10 | 420 | 60 | 145.83 | 2 | 2 | 104* |
| 6 | Robin Uthappa (KKR) | 11 | 10 | 384 | 38.4 | 169.91 | 0 | 5 | 87 |
| 7 | Sanju Samson (DD) | 11 | 11 | 374 | 34 | 143.85 | 1 | 2 | 102 |
| 8 | Steve Smith (RPS) | 11 | 11 | 367 | 40.78 | 128.77 | 0 | 2 | 84* |
| 9 | Manish Pandey (KKR) | 13 | 12 | 363 | 51.86 | 132 | 0 | 2 | 81* |
| 10 | Rahul Tripathi (RPS) | 10 | 10 | 353 | 35.3 | 152.81 | 0 | 2 | 93 |
Leading wicket takers:
| Position | Player | Matches | Wickets | Overs | Runs | 5 Wickets | Economy | Best Figures |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bhuvneshwar Kumar (SRH) | 12 | 23 | 48 | 333 | 1 | 6.94 | 5 for 19 |
| 2 | Imran Tahir (RPS) | 12 | 18 | 47 | 369 | 0 | 7.85 | 3 for 18 |
| 3 | Chris Woakes (KKR) | 13 | 17 | 44 | 386 | 0 | 8.77 | 3 for 6 |
| 4 | Jaydev Unadkat (RPS) | 8 | 17 | 30.5 | 238 | 1 | 7.72 | 3 for 29 |
| 5 | Mitchell McClenaghan (MI) | 12 | 17 | 46 | 407 | 0 | 8.85 | 3 for 24 |
| 6 | Sandeep Sharma (KXIP) | 11 | 16 | 42 | 344 | 0 | 8.19 | 4 for 20 |
| 7 | Siddharth Kaul (SRH) | 8 | 15 | 30.4 | 256 | 0 | 8.35 | 4 for 29 |
| 8 | Umesh Yadav (KKR) | 11 | 14 | 38 | 326 | 0 | 8.58 | 4 for 33 |
| 9 | Jasprit Bumrah (MI) | 12 | 14 | 44.2 | 350 | 0 | 7.89 | 3 for 24 |
| 10 | Rashid Khan (SRH) | 12 | 14 | 48 | 313 | 0 | 6.52 | 3 for 19 |
It looks virtually impossible now for anyone to overtake David Warner and Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the races for the orange and purple caps respectively. Both SRH stars have played extremely well and have displayed unreal consistency throughout the tournament. However, cricket is a funny game and it takes one quirky match to change the complexion of an entire tournament! Some other batsman or bowler might have an extraordinary day, thereby overtaking the current top spot holders.
For Warner and Kumar to maintain their leads over everyone else, SRH needs to qualify for the playoffs so as to give them the matches to do that.
Let us look at the points table now.
Points table:
| Position | Team | Played | Won | Lost | No Result | Net Run Rate | Points | Last Result | Next Opponent |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mumbai Indians | 12 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0.903 | 18 | Lost to SRH by 3 wickets | KXIP |
| 2 | Kolkata Knight Riders | 13 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 0.729 | 16 | Lost to KXIP by 14 runs | MI |
| 3 | Rising Pune Supergiant | 12 | 8 | 4 | 0 | -0.06 | 16 | Beat SRH by 12 runs | DD |
| 4 | Sunrisers Hyderabad | 13 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 0.565 | 15 | Beat MI by 3 wickets | GL |
| 5 | Kings XI Punjab | 12 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0.28 | 12 | Beat KKR by 14 runs | MI |
| 6 | Gujarat Lions | 12 | 4 | 8 | 0 | -0.369 | 8 | Beat KXIP by 6 wickets | DD |
| 7 | Delhi Daredevils | 11 | 4 | 7 | 0 | -0.66 | 8 | Lost to MI by 146 runs | GL |
| 8 | Royal Challengers Bangalore | 13 | 2 | 10 | 1 | -1.454 | 5 | Lost to KKR by 6 wickets | DD |
Brand-new app in a brand-new avatar! Download CricRocket for fast cricket scores, rocket flicks, super notifications and much more! 🚀☄️
