Rising Pune Supergiant vs Punjab Kings, 55th Match - Live Cricket Score, Commentary

Series: Indian Premier League, 2017 Venue: Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune Date & Time: May 14, 04:00 PM LOCAL

Pune seal play-off spot with comprehensive win. © BCCI

Pune will now play Mumbai Indians for a spot in the final.

Clinical - that's what Rising Pune Supergiant have been today. Right from the toss, everything clicked for them to perfection. They were all over Punjab from ball one and didn't relent. The bowlers were brilliant as Punjab's batsmen seemed to be lacking answers. After being bowled out for 73, it would have been ridiculous to expect a result other than an easy Pune win. Rahul Tripathi came out all guns blazing and gave them the start they wanted. He fell to Axar Patel in his 20s, but Steve Smith and Ajinkya Rahane steered the side home - and to their first play-off.

That's it! Pune finish in style and pick up a nine-wicket win to seal their play-off spot, finishing second in the points table. They will now take on Mumbai for a spot in the final.

Dropped! Ajinkya Rahane finds Guptill at deep midwicket, but his horror day continues. Straight in, straight out. An otherwise magnificent fielder puts Rahane down. When it's not your day, it just isn't.

Steve Smith, the next man in...

Axar strikes: Tripathi shuffles far too across and misses the line completely. The ball crashes into the stumps as Axar gets the wicket. Departs for 28 with 33 required for victory and a spot in the play-offs.

GOOD START: Rahul Tripathi has started off strongly in this rather paltry chase. Has raced away to 28 off 17, while Rahane is still on 7 off 11.

: Amla v SRH Parthiv v RCB Samson v MI Gayle v KKR Rahane v DD GUPTILL v RPS

18 8

WHAT A START: What a start for Pune! Guptill gone first ball. Unadkat bowls a slightly wider one that Guptill goes after, looking to drive it, but hits it straight to Manoj Tiwary at short extra cover. Gone for a golden duck!

Playing XIs:

Kings XI Punjab (Playing XI): Martin Guptill, Wriddhiman Saha(w), Glenn Maxwell(c), Shaun Marsh, Eoin Morgan, Axar Patel, Rahul Tewatia, Swapnil Singh, Mohit Sharma, Ishant Sharma, Sandeep Sharma

Rising Pune Supergiant (Playing XI): Ajinkya Rahane, Rahul Tripathi, Steven Smith(c), Manoj Tiwary, Ben Stokes, MS Dhoni(w), Daniel Christian, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jaydev Unadkat, Adam Zampa

Toss: Steve Smith wins toss and opts to bowl. Pune fielding the same XI from the previous game, while Punjab have two changes. Morgan comes in for Henry and Swapnil Singh comes in for Manan Vohra.

Welcome to our coverage of the penultimate league game of the tenth edition of the IPL. What a season this has been. It all comes down to the final day. And the final three hours that could determine the final slots. It has all come down to this. A shoot-out. A case of winner take all. Let's lay out the cards - a win for Pune would get them catapulting up to the second spot. Punjab would have to do with a trip to Bangalore with a win, no matter what the margin. Punjab have had a spate of virtual play-offs before the actual ones. So, we are in Pune, a land that has seen all kinds of thrillers this year.We wouldn't mind this afternoon throw up another.

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