Knockout before the playoffs for Kings XI and Pune
Kings XI Punjab and Rising Pune Supergiant will go into their final league game still hunting a place in the playoffs. The winner will progress, the loser misses out on the top four
The Preview by Vishal Dikshit
13-May-2017
Match facts
Rising Pune Supergiant v Kings XI Punjab
Pune, May 14, 2017
Start time 1600 local (1030 GMT)
Pune, May 14, 2017
Start time 1600 local (1030 GMT)
Head to head
This season: Sandeep Sharma struck early, Axar Patel strangled batsmen in the middle overs, and Glenn Maxwell slammed 44 not out off 20 balls in Kings XI Punjab's convincing six-wicket win in Indore.
Overall: It's 2-1 in favour of Kings XI.
In the news
Kings XI are without Eoin Morgan, Hashim Amla and David Miller while Pune are without Faf du Plessis and Imran Tahir, all of whom are away on international duty.
Qualification scenario
It's straightforward winner-takes-all situation. If Rising Pune Supergiant win, they will shoot up the table to No. 2. If Kings XI Punjab win, they slot in at No. 4 - they will need to win by a really huge margin to have any chance of leapfrogging KKR to No. 3. Whichever team loses is out of the tournament.
A no-result will carry Pune through - at No. 3 - and knock Kings XI out.
The likely XIs
Should Pune push MS Dhoni up the order?
0 votesNo, they need his cool head down the order
Yes, promote him to No. 4 and give him confidence
Doesn't matter, he is past his prime and will struggle anywhere
Rising Pune Supergiant: 1 Rahul Tripathi, 2 Ajinkya Rahane, 3 Steven Smith (capt), 4 Manoj Tiwary, 5 MS Dhoni (wk), 6 Ben Stokes, 7 Dan Christian, 8 Washington Sundar, 9 Shardul Thakur, 10 Jaydev Unadkat, 11 Adam Zampa
Kings XI Punjab: 1 Martin Guptill, 2 Manan Vohra, 3 Shaun Marsh, 4 Glenn Maxwell (capt), 5 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 6 Axar Patel, 7 Rahul Tewatia, 8 Swapnil Singh, 9 Matt Henry, 10 Mohit Sharma, 11 Sandeep Sharma
Strategy punt
Steven Smith, Pune's highest scorer so far, has an unimpressive record against Mohit Sharma - 27 runs off 31 balls and two dismissals - in the IPL. Mohit will probably bowl first- or second-change. It might make sense to introduce him whenever Smith comes to bat.
Stats that matter
- Ben Stokes is the only player with over 250 runs and more than 10 wickets in the 2017 IPL. Overall, he is the 10th player to do the double in the league phase of an IPL season. Jacques Kallis did it three times (2010, 2012 and 2013) and Shane Watson achieved it twice (2008 and 2013).
- MS Dhoni, who is having his worst IPL as far as strike rate and average go, has an imposing record against Axar Patel - 63 runs off 37 balls at a strike rate of 170.27 and no dismissals.
- Kings XI have scored over 50 runs in the last five overs of each of their last four games. They had done so only three times in their first eight matches this IPL
- Kings XI have changed their batting fortunes in the slog overs in recent matches. In their first nine matches, they scored at 9.23 per over and lost 21 wickets in the last five overs. In their last four matches, they have scored at 11.45 per over and lost only eight wickets.
Vishal Dikshit is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo