Hindustan Times (Jalandhar)

RPS aim to seal berth in playoffs

Smith’s side need a victory to cement qualificat­ion; Delhi Daredevils confident after win over Gujarat Lions

- Siddharth Vishwanath­an siddharth.vishwanath­an@hindustant­imes.com

NEW DELHI: What a difference one year makes. In IPL 2016, Rising Pune Supergiant­s, ravaged by injuries to key players, just escaped finishing with the wooden spoon. In IPL 2017, after a minor tweak in their name and a major change in terms of captaincy, they are currently second in the points table. Victory in one of their remaining games will seal a spot for them in the playoffs.

Their first step in ‘Mission Playoff’ will be the encounter against Delhi Daredevils at the Ferozeshah Kotla on Friday. Not only will Steve Smith’s team be eyeing a place in the playoffs, they will also be seeking revenge for their crushing 97-run loss at the start of the tournament when Sanju Samson blasted the tournament’s first century.

RPS GATHER PACE

After a break of five days, Smith’s team head into this match refreshed and high on confidence, having won four consecutiv­e matches. The heartening thing for Pune was that two of these wins came at home while two of the away wins came against Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens and Sunrisers Hyderabad in Uppal.

RPS will also be pleased about contributi­ons from other players, apart from Smith, MS Dhoni, Imran Tahir and Ben Stokes. Lockie Ferguson stole the show with a haul of 2/7 against Royal Challenger­s Bangalore while Rahul Tripathi continued his amazing form at the top with 93 against KKR. Jaydev Unadkat stole the show by capturing 5/30 against Hyderabad, including a hattrick. The performanc­e of all these players, combined with the class and experience of Smith, Dhoni, Stokes and Ajinkya Rahane make Rising Pune Supergiant overwhelmi­ng favourites against an unpredicta­ble Delhi.

INCONSISTE­NT DELHI

Delhi Daredevils will head into the match having won two of their last three games. Yet, they are out of the playoffs. Zaheer Khan’s team paid the price for losing five consecutiv­e games at the start of IPL 2017. This has been their story throughout the decade of IPL – inconsiste­nt and volatile at crucial times.

In their last four games, barring the 146-run thumping against Mumbai Indians, Delhi Daredevils have shown plenty of grit and their batsmen have led the way.

 ?? BCCI ?? Rising Pune Supergiant have overcome a slow start to be on the verge of making it to the last four in the IPL.
BCCI Rising Pune Supergiant have overcome a slow start to be on the verge of making it to the last four in the IPL.

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