Ben Stokes got adjudged as the ‘Man of the Match’ for his gritty knock of 103 from 63 balls featuring 7 fours and 6 sixes. He rescued RPS innings from 10 for 3 chasing a target of 162 at their home ground.
23:30 IST Thanks to Stokes’ century, RPS beat GL by 5 wickets!
23:30 IST Stokes could not hit the next one, takes a single off the next ball! Christian takes a single off the next delivery. He takes a single off the next ball, just 1 run needed now to win the game! 1 needed off 2 balls! SIX! Christian ends the match with a maximum, that will wrap up the innings!
23:27 IST Ben Stokes hits his first IPL hundred with a boundary!
8 needed off last over
23:24 IST Thampi to bowl the 19th over, Stokes on strike, SIX! That was a full toss from Thampi, sheer power on that shot a maximum for him in the start of the over. Stokes pulls again, Jadeja rockets towards the ball, restricts it, a couple of runs of that one. Stokes plays the next one down the ground, takes a single. 9 runs off the over already. Christian on strike. Slower one from Thampi, Christian takes a single off that one, brings Stokes back on strike. SIX! Stokes gets another maximum, that is just sensational batting from Stokes, second maximum for him. He takes a single off the last ball, retains strike. RPS 154/5.
RPS need 25 from 12 balls.
23:19 IST Pradeep Sangwan to bowl his last over, Stokes takes a single off the first ball. Slower ball from Sangwan, in the air but safe, a couple of runs off that ball. FOUR! Christian finds a boundary as he cuts the ball past cover-point. Christian takes a single towards long off on the next one. Stokes hits the ball towards deep midwicket, Smith runs towards it like a rocket, restricts that for a couple of runs. He takes a single off the last ball. RPS 137/5.
23:14 IST Christian and Stokes are knocking the ball around for singles after Dhoni’s wicket, three singles off the three deliveries. FOUR! Stokes goes down the ground, hits a boundary towards long on, he is not finished yet, on 77 now, his highest IPL score. He takes a single off the last ball, 8 runs and a wicket from it. RPS 126/5.
23:10 IST WICKET! Dhoni c Brendon McCullum b Basil Thampi 26(33)
23:09 IST Dhoni finally understood that he needs to accelerate now, he scored boundaries as RPS needed 72 from 36 balls. Stokes too joins him as he smashes Dwayne Smith, good batting from Stokes-Dhoni as they are keeping up with the required run rate.
22:57 IST Dwayne Smith continues, Stokes takes a single on the second ball of the over. Dhoni on strike, another dot ball as he could not time it. Another dot ball, Dhoni is struggling tonight. Dhoni takes a single towards long on. Stokes takes a single off the last ball. RPS 90/4.
22:54 IST Soni continues his over, Dhoni on strike, he goes down the track, takes a couple of runs. He goes down the track again, hits the ball towards deep covers, takes a couple of runs. A dot ball to follow. WIDE! Soni bowls a wide, he is under a bit of pressure against Dhoni. A dot ball to follow as Soni as he puts in a dive. 2 more runs from the over, RPS 87/4.
22:50 IST Dwayne Smith continues his over, he takes a single off the first ball. Two more singles from the over, FOUR! Stokes ends the over with a boundary, 8 runs from the over. RPS 80/4.
22:47 IST Stokes gets to his half century in 38 balls!
22:46 IST Ankit Soni starts off with a dot ball to Stokes. Next ball, Stokes reverse sweeps, gets just a single off that one. Dhoni on strike, hits his pads, just a single off that one. Stokes plays the ball towards long off, takes a single. Dhoni back on strike, he goes on the back foot, takes a single towards long off. Stokes takes a single off the last ball, just 5 from the over. RPS 72/4.
22:42 IST Jadeja continues, he bowls a dot ball to Stokes to start with. SIX! Stokes hits that one with all the muscle power, 89 meters, that is out of the park. SIX! This one is even bigger, Stokes has launched a brutal onslaught on Jadeja, 94 meters. A dot ball to follow, Jadeja pulling things back. Stokes hits the ball into the gap wide of long off, takes a couple of runs. He takes a single off the next one, 15 from the over. RPS 67/4.
22:39 IST Stokes on strike, Soni continues, he beats the English all-rounder with a wrong one. Soni is not giving Stokes any room to work with, two dot balls to follow, beats Stokes on the previous one. Stokes takes a single towards midwicket. Dhoni plays the ball towards point, a dot ball. Another dot ball to end the over, just a single from it. RPS 52/4.
22:36 IST Jadeja comes to bowl, Dhoni on strike, FOUR! He just drives that one to perfection, a boundary for him towards covers, the fielder tries but could not stop it. He pushes the next one towards covers, a dot ball. Two more dot balls to follow, good comeback from Jadeja. Next ball, he comes down the track, Jadeja appeals, another dot ball. Last ball of the over, he defends the last ball, 4 from it. RPS 51/4.
22:32 IST Ankit Soni comes to bowl, Stokes on strike, Whoa! that one went way from Raina at slips, Stokes gets a couple of runs. He plays the next one towards long on, a single taken. Dhoni comes on strike and the crowd is ecstatic (no need to explain why!). Dhoni comes down the wicket, could not push it for a single, a dot ball. Dhoni plays the next one towards short cover, a dot ball. Another dot ball as it turns away, Dhoni has played three dot deliveries. He finally finds a gap, takes a single towards point-cover. RPS 47/4.
22:27 IST Stokes faces tw0 dot deliveries to start with, he takes a quick single off the next ball, retains strike. RPS 43/4.
22:24 IST WICKET! Tripathi run out (Finch) 6(7)
22:24 IST James Faulkner comes to bowl, Stokes on strike, a dot ball to start with. FOUR! Stokes hits that one towards covers boundary as Faulkner misses his line! a terrible mix-up on the next ball as Tripathi ran for two. RPS 42/4.
22:21 IST Sangwan continues, Stokes guides the first ball towards the square of the wicket, good fielding at the deep means there will only be a couple of runs off that ball. Next ball, SIX! Stokes pulls the ball, he had hit that one into the crowd, first maximum of the innings. Edged but safe, Stokes edges the ball to the third man, takes a single. FOUR! Tripathi finds a boundary, his first one in this innings, used the pace of the ball and helped it on it’s way. He guides the next ball towards point, a dot ball. A dot ball to end the over, 13 from it. RPS 37/3.
22:17 IST Thampi continues, Stokes on strike, FOUR! He is looking positive today, scores his second boundary of the innings. Next ball, he bowls a slower one, a dot ball to follow. Stokes goes for the pull shot, in the air and safe, he takes a single off that one. Tripathi on strike, he will be playing his 3rd ball in the innings. He makes room for himself, hits the ball towards covers, a dot ball. Tripathi tries to pull the next ball, defended at short fine leg, a single taken off that delivery. Last ball of the over, a single to end the over. RPS 24/3.
22:12 IST Sangwan continues, Stokes defends the first delivery, FOUR! Stokes plays a beautiful straight drive, hits a boundary down the ground, that will boost his confidence. Two dot balls to follow as Sangwan makes a comeback with right line and length. Swing and a miss, that gets past the edge. Stokes takes a single off the next ball. Tripathi to face the last ball, a dot ball to end the over, RPS 17/3.
22:07 IST Stokes comes to bat, he plays the first two balls cautiously and takes a single off the last ball of the over, retains strike. RPS 10/3.
22:04 IST WICKET! Manoj Tiwary lbw b Basil Thampi 0(2)
22:01 IST WICKET! Smith c Ankit Soni b Sangwan 4(2)
22:01 IST Skipper Steven Smith too gets out after hitting a boundary, this is a dream comeback for Sangwan, two wickets from his first over. RPS 8/2.
21:59 IST WICKET! Rahane lbw b Sangwan 4(4)
21:59 IST Sangwan bowls his first over of IPL 2017, Rahane gets out after hitting a boundary, what a comeback for the left-arm fast bowler. RPS 4/1.
21:55 IST Ajinkya Rahane and Rahul Tripathi come to bat, Pradeep Sangwan to bowl his first over of IPL 2017
21:41 IST WICKET! Thampi b Undakat 2(6)
21:40 IST WICKET! Karthik run out (Dhoni) 29(26)
21:40 IST Unadkat to bowl the last over, Thampi on strike, he takes a single off the slower delivery towards square leg. FOUR! A bizarre shot from Karthik, an unorthodox switch hit-scoop from him, nevertheless, he gets a boundary off that one. He tries for the scoop this time, an appeal but the Umpire says no. Thampi is in trouble as Dhoni hits the wickets, he is safe by an inch, survives somehow, a single for GL. He goes for the slog, misses the ball, Dhoni hits the wickets again, that’s gone! Karthik is gone on the fourth ball. GL 161/9.
21:36 IST Ben Stokes to bowl the 19th over, he starts off with a dot ball to new batsmen on the crease, Basil Thampi. Next ball, Thampi goes for the big shot but could not hit it through, a dot ball. A yorker from Stokes, Thampi takes a single off that one. Karthik plays the next one in the gap, towards deep mid wicket, takes a couple of runs. FOUR! Here’s the boundary Karthik was looking for, second one of the innings, he will be targeting a score near to 170. A dot ball to end the over. GL 155/8.
21:32 IST A dot ball to end the over from Unadkat, Karthik struggles to score boundaries. GL 148/8.
21:31 IST WICKET! Sangwan c Tripathi b Sangwan 1(2)
21:31 IST Sangwan on strike, he takes a single towards square of the crease. Karthik comes down the track but he could not hit it, manages a single. OUT! Another one bites the dust. GL 148/8.
21:27 IST WICKET! Faulkner c Manoj Tiwary b Unadkat 6(7)
21:26 IST: Christian into his third over, will start after the timeout. Karthik picks a single and hands strike to Faulkner. Faulkner drives wide of cover to pick 2 runs. Bit of a mix up, in the end they take the single. They need 190. Faulkner takes another single. Three overs without a boundary. GL 146/6.
21:19 IST Imran Tahir comes to bowl, Karthik takes a single on the second ball. James Faulkner comes to bat, he takes a single towards long on. Karthik takes a single too, Tahir has come back well. Faulkner takes a single off the next ball. One more single off the last ball. 5 from it. GL 140/6.
21:15 IST WICKET! Jadeja c Unadkat b Christian 19(12)
21:15 IST Daniel Christian comes to bowl, Karthik takes a couple of runs as sweeper cover cuts it off. Change of pace from Christian, Karthik takes a single towards deep midwicket. Christian comes round the wicket, Jadeja on strike, he guides the ball towards square leg, that might be out as Jadeja tries for a couple of runs. Jadeja is not out. He takes a single off the next ball towards extra cover. Karthik pulls the ball for a single towards square leg. Jadeja on strike, OUT! Here’s another wicket for RPS. GL 135/6.
21:10 IST Shardul continues, Karthik takes a single off the first ball, brings Jadeja on strike. Jadeja takes a single off the next ball. Another lbw shout from Shardul but the Umpire denies him, a single taken, leg byes signaled by the Umpire. FOUR! Jadeja plays that one fine, gets a boundary towards fine leg, he is batting well today. A dot ball to follow as Shardul bowls a tight length, Jadeja plays it with a straight bat. Another dot ball to finish off the over. GL 128/5.
21:05 IST Jadeja on strike, Stokes continues, he bowls a yorker, a single off the first ball towards midwicket. Karthik dabs the short ball towards short midwicket, just a single off that ball. Jadeja cuts it towards third man for a couple of runs. FOUR! This time he gets the ball in the gap, uses the field setting to his benefit, pushes the ball past mid on, mid off for a boundary. Next ball, a dot one. FOUR! Jadeja drops on the back foot and pulls the ball for a boundary towards midwicket, 12 runs from the over. GL 121/5.
21:01 IST A dot ball to end the over to Karthik, a wicket and 8 runs from it, Ravindra Jadeja comes to bat. GL 109/5.
20:59 IST WICKET! Brendon McCullum c Rahane b Shardul Thakur 45(27)
20:59 IST Thakur comes back to bowl, McCullum manages to take a single towards midwicket. Big lbw shout from Thakur but the Umpire says no. That should have been gone as we look at the replay, takes a couple of runs. FOUR! Karthik just pushes the ball towards covers boundary, that will frustrate Thakur. He takes a single off the next ball. OUT! McCullum gone, here’s the wicket RPS were looking for, this will have a huge impact on the scoreboard. GL 109/5.
20:55 IST Stokes comes to bowl, McCullum on strike, FOUR! That was edged and runs away towards third man boundary, he is getting runs despite GL losing wickets. He takes a single off the third delivery punching the ball past cover fielder. Dinesh Karthik comes to bat now, he needs to stick there. Karthik takes a single towards the third man. Short delivery from Stokes and McCullum falls on the ground trying to hit that one, manages to take a single towards third man. Last ball of the over, Karthik defends it towards covers, 7 from it. GL 101/4.
20:51 IST Tahir is running aimlessly, he is delighted, he has got two wickets in two balls. Tahir is on a hattrick but in the next over! GL 94/4.
20:49 IST WICKET! Dwayne Smith b Tahir 0(1)
20:47 IST WICKET! Finch c & b Tahir 13(6)
20:47 IST Imran Tahir continues, he bowls a googly to Finch, SIX! He slogs it over deep midwicket for a maximum, he has muscled that one up, up and away. Finch plays sensibly, he takes a single off the next ball. McCullum makes room for himself, Tahir bowls it wide, a dot ball as Umpire did not signal wide. McCullum hits the ball down the ground, takes a single towards long on. OUT! Tahir strikes again, he goes for a marathon run at Pune, Finch departs! GL 94/3.
20:44 IST Aaron Finch comes to bat but he is off strike. Daniel Christian has come to bowl, McCullum on strike, he takes a single off that one. WIDE! That was way down the leg side, an extra for him. He takes a single towards long on, he tried to go for a big shot but could not time it. McCullum takes a single on the next one. FOUR! Finch hits the ball over deep midwicket for a boundary, he is getting into the groove. Next ball, a slower one from Christian, the ball took a leading edge. There was a run out chance! Finch survives, takes a single anyway. Last ball of the over, SIX! This just keeps getting better and better, another maximum, 15 runs from it. GL 86/2.
20:38 IST WICKET! Suresh Raina run out (Rahane/Dhoni) 8(8)
20:38 IST Imran Tahir continues, Raina plays him with caution, a dot ball. He plays the next one in the gap, runs hard, picks up a couple of runs. He takes a single towards long on, brings McCullum on strike. McCullum takes a single towards square leg. Raina tries to go for a pull but finds the midwicket fielder, a dot ball. He pushes for a couple of runs off the next ball, is that out? Raina’s gone! This is a big blow for GL, 71/2.
20:31 IST Shardul Thakur comes to bowl, McCullum takes a single off the first ball, Raina on strike now. He pulls the short ball, it’s in the gap but Tripathi cuts it off, takes a couple of runs off that one. Raina guides the ball towards the third man for a single. WIDE! That was down the leg side from Thakur, he will have to bowl that one again. FOUR! McCullum comes down the track, makes room for himself and hits the ball past mid-off for a boundary. He takes a single off the next ball towards covers. Raina takes a single towards square leg, 11 off the over. GL 66/1.
20:25 IST WICKET! Kishan c Sundar b Tahir 31(24)
Meanwhile, enjoy David Warner’s whirlwind innings from April 30-
#IPL Match 39: Here are the Playing XIs for @RPSupergiants vs. @TheGujaratLions #RPSvGL pic.twitter.com/LQVeWRVl8Y
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 1, 2017
20:25 IST Imran Tahir comes to bowl in powerplay overs, he follows McCullum as he moves towards the leg side, just a single off the first ball. Kishan on strike, a dot ball as he could not pull the ball past midwicket fielder. FOUR! Kishan plays the ball on the full and works it past the square leg fielder for a boundary. FOUR! It’s two in a row for Kishan, this time he goes past the mid off fielder. Tahir comes round the wicket, Kishan could not guide that one towards third man, a dot ball. OUT! Tahir strikes, he gets the breakthrough RPS needed. GL 55/1.
20:21 IST Ben Stokes to bowl the next over, he is back into the side after an injury. He starts off with a dot ball to McCullum. FOUR! McCullum had exquisite timing on that one, a boundary for him. SIX! Here’s the McCullum we all know, just stands and delivers, 10 runs off the over already. He takes a single towards backward point. Kishan on strike, a yorker from Stokes, a dot ball. One more dot ball to end the over, 11 runs from it. GL 46/0.
20:17 IST After three balls which restricted batsmen to open arms Washington gets a pounding from Ishan Kishan. FOUR! SIX! He has become the perfect opener for GL, 11 runs from the over. GL 35/0.
20:15 IST: Kishan pulls he picks 2 runs. McCullum has not enjoyed the bulk of the strike, he is back on strike to Unadkat, he will get pace to work with. Kishan picks up three runs of a mistimed pull. This time he pulls from the middle of the bat SIX. GL 24/0.
20:09 IST: Spin from the other end, Sundar is bowling. Sundar off to a good start, the ball is skidding in. Just the one run of that over. GL 12/0.
20:04 IST: Unadkat starts, Ishan Kishan off the mark of the first ball. Brendon McCullum spanks one for FOUR. Brendon cheeky on this occasion gets FOUR to the third man. GL 11/0
19:58 IST: The players and umpires walk out to the center for proceeding to begin. All in eagerness for the start.
19:33 IST: RPS win toss elect to bowl. Ben Stokes returns to the RPS outfit.
#IPL Match 39: Here are the Playing XIs for @RPSupergiants vs. @TheGujaratLions #RPSvGL pic.twitter.com/LQVeWRVl8Y
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 1, 2017
GL XI: I Kishan, B McCullum, S Raina, A Finch, DR Smith, D Karthik, J Faulkner, R Jadeja, A Soni, B Thampi, P Sangwan
RPS XI: A Rahane, R Tripathi, S Smith, M Tiwary, MS Dhoni, B Stokes, D Christian, W Sundar, J Unadkat, S Thakur, I Tahir
Welcome to inUth’s digital coverage of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2017’s Match 39 between Rising Pune Supergiant and Gujarat Lions at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune on May 1. Pune is in fine form as they have won three of their last four matches and they have 10 points from nine matches. On the other hand, Gujarat struggling a bit as they are sixth on the points table with three wins from nine games.
In their previous encounter on April 14, Suresh Raina-led Gujarat Lions thrashed Rising Pune Supergiant by 7 wickets and with 2 overs to spare. This match will be remembered for long as during the game Australian bowler Andrew Tye claimed the hat-trick by dismissing three Pune batsmen—Ankit Sharma, Manoj Tiwary and Shardul Thakur—in three consecutive balls of the last over.
Going into this game, Pune will be hoping for a good start from their opening duo of Ajinkya Rahane and Rahul Tripathi. In the middle order, they have experienced batsmen like Steven Smith and Mahendra Singh Dhoni. In the lower middle order, Manoj Tiwary, Daniel Christian and Rajat Bhatia can come in handy if needed. In the bowling department, Jaydev Unadkat, Shardul Thakur and leg-spinner Imran Tahir can provide the breakthroughs as well as stop the flow of runs in the middle overs.
While Gujarat with the presence of batsmen like Dwayne Smith, Brendon McCullum, Suresh Raina, Aaron Finch and Dinesh Karthik and they will hold the key to chase down any target.
Toss will remain crucial as the both the teams will look to bat first and try to post a mammoth total. This game is important for both the teams.
Squads
Rising Pune Supergiant: Steve Smith (captain), Ajinkya Rahane, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wicketkeeper), Ashok Dinda, Mayank Agarwal, Faf du Plessis, Ankit Sharma, Baba Aparajith, Ankush Bains, Rajat Bhatia, Deepak Chahar, Rahul Chahar, Dan Christian, Lockie Ferguson, Imran Tahir, Jaskaran Singh, Usman Khawaja, Saurabh Kumar, Ben Stokes, Washington Sundar, Milind Tandon, Manoj Tiwary, Adam Zampa, Jaydev Unadkat, Ishwar Pandey, Rahul Tripathi, Shardul Thakur.
Gujarat Lions: Suresh Raina (captain), Akshadeep Nath, Basil Thampi, Shubham Agarwal, Dwayne Smith, Chirag Suri, James Faulkner, Aaron Finch, Manpreet Gony, Ishan Kishan, Ravindra Jadeja, Shadab Jakati, Dinesh Karthik (wicketkeeper), Dhaval Kulkarni, Praveen Kumar, Brandon McCullum, Pradeep Sangwan, Jason Roy, Jaydev Shah, Shelly Shaurya, Nathusingh, Tejas Baroka and Andrew Tye.
The match starts at 2200 IST – LIVE SONY SIX, SONY MAX, SONY ESPN.
