IPL Results 2016: Scores, Points Table and Schedule After April 17 Double-Header
Kings XI Punjab secured their first win of the 2016 Indian Premier League in style on Sunday, as they beat the Rising Pune Supergiants by six wickets in Mohali.
The Supergiants had Faf du Plessis to thank for salvaging a poor batting effort, as his determined 67 helped his side to a total of 152 for seven.
A sublime opening partnership of 97 from Murali Vijay (53) and Manan Vohra (51) put Punjab in a superb position, though, while Glenn Maxwell's late blitz helped secure the win with eight balls to spare.
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In the second match of the day, Delhi Daredevils completed an epic chase to beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by seven wickets. Virat Kohli (79 from 48) and AB de Villiers (55 from 33) had powered the hosts to a total of 191, but Quinton de Kock scored the first century of this year's IPL to help his team chase down the daunting target.
Here are the updated standings following Sunday's results:
| Gujarat Lions | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | +0.714 |
| Kolkata Knight Riders | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | +0.995 |
| Delhi Daredevils | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | +0.249 |
| Royal Challengers Bangalore | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | +0.901 |
| Rising Pune Supergiants | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | +0.338 |
| Mumbai Indians | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -0.775 |
| Kings XI Punjab | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -1.101 |
| Sunrisers Hyderabad | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1.630 |
These are the upcoming fixtures in the 2016 IPL:
| April 18 | 3:30 p.m/8 p.m. | Sunrisers Hyderabad vs. Mumbai Indians | Hyderabad |
| April 19 | 3:30 p.m/8 p.m. | Kings XI Punjab vs. Kolkata Knight Riders | Mohali |
| April 20 | 3:30 p.m/8 p.m. | Mumbai Indians vs. Royal Challengers Bangalore | Mumbai |
| April 21 | 3:30 p.m/8 p.m. | Gujarat Lions vs. Sunrisers Hyderabad | Rajkot |
| April 22 | 3:30 p.m/8 p.m. | Rising Pune Supergiants vs. Royal Challengers Bangalore | Pune |
| April 23 | 11:30 a.m./4 p.m. | Delhi Daredevils vs. Mumbai Indians | Delhi |
| April 23 | 3:30 p.m/8 p.m. | Sunrisers Hyderabad vs. Kings XI Punjab | Hyderabad |
Bangalore vs. Daredevils
Delhi, 192/3 (De Kock 108, Shami 2-34) beat Bangalore, 191/5 (Kohli 79, Watson 2-25) by seven wickets (with five balls remaining).
Daredevils won the toss and elected to field, knowing full well how much success the chasing teams have found early in this IPL campaign.
Chris Gayle once again failed to make an impact, as he was caught by JP Duminy for a duck. But while that was exactly the kind of start Delhi would have hoped for, the hosts soon found their rhythm, led by Kohli and De Villiers.
The two put together a phenomenal stand, combining for 20 boundaries and lasting until the 12th over. Along the way, they made quite the impression on the fans, and Alt Cricket professed his love of watching Kohli go to work in Bangalore, where the boundaries are relatively close:
"Virat Kohli batting at Bangalore is like Super Mario on invincibility mode facing Bowser after seventeen shots of Jaegermeister.
— Alt Cricket (@AltCricket) April 17, 2016"
The two crossed the half-century mark in no time, and by the time Mohammed Shami caught De Villiers in the 12th, Bangalore had already scored 107 runs. Shane Watson (33 from 19) picked up where his team-mate had left off, and Royal Challengers appeared to be on their way to a score of 200-plus.
Kohli soon crossed the 75-run mark, and per ESPN Cricinfo’s Bharath Seervi, it set yet another record:
He would eventually be caught in the 19th over, as Delhi’s bowlers came on strong late in the innings. Bangalore were 164 for two in the 16th over, but they would finish with a total of 191, which was less daunting for Delhi than initially feared.
Shami finished with figures of 2-34, while Chris Morris finished with the lowest economy rate, with 7.25.
Delhi got their chase off the right way, scoring nine runs off the first two deliveries, but they soon lost Shreyas Iyer, who was caught for a duck. De Kock (108 from 51) put together a spectacular knock, but it wasn’t enough, as the required run rate started to go up from the sixth over onwards.
Sanju Samson scored just nine from 14, but Karun Nair (unbeaten 54) proved to be the partner De Kock needed, as he got the chase back on track. He and De Kock went berzerk in the second half of the innings, as Nair needed just 36 balls to get his half-century, and De Kock scored the first century of this year's IPL.
Cricket writer Ayaz Memon was impressed:
De Kock was eventually bowled by Watson in the 19th over, but by that point, the chase was nearly complete. Delhi needed just one run from the final over, and Duminy took care of business on the first delivery.
Watson finished with figures of 2-25, but he and Parvez Rasool were the only two Bangalore bowlers to finish with an economy rate in the single digits.
Per ESPN Cricinfo, Kohli couldn't hide his disappointment after the loss:
"Tough to swallow. Could have been much closer in the end. Delhi batted well. Quinton de Kock was brilliant. Karun hung in there. I didn't get strike after Watson got out for eight balls. Shami and Morris executed their plans. It was tough to get the ball away, we thought it was two-paced wicket. No one stepped up today with the ball, It happens in cricket. Mindset with the ball, We need to believe we can get the batsman out every ball. If a batsman senses that, senses you are reluctant, he can get on top of you.
"
Bangalore simply didn't pull through with the ball after a superb innings with the bat. Royal Challengers remain among the favourites to win this year's title, but they'll have to find some consistency with their bowling to have any chance of beating the likes of Kolkata Knight Riders and Gujarat Lions.
Delhi answered the questions surrounding their batsmen in a big way, and while they're still too reliant on a handful of stars, Sunday's win presented a step in the right direction.
Punjab vs. Rising Pune
Punjab, 153-4 (Vijay 53, Ashwin 3-36) beat Rising Pune, 152-7 (Du Plessis 67, Sharma 3-23) by six wickets.
Rising Pune would have been a little disappointed with their efforts overall, because after winning the toss and choosing to bat, their innings never caught fire.
Their destructive players fell a long way short of what they’re capable of. Ajinkya Rahane was dismissed in third over for just nine, while Kevin Pietersen stuttered to a run-a-ball 15 before he was snaffled.
When the big-hitting Thisara Perera was dismissed for just eight, the Supergiants were rocking a little at 76 for three. From there, Du Plessis and Steve Smith helped settle things down.
They put on an entertaining partnership of 63, with Smith assuming the role of aggressor. Still, as the tournament’s Twitter feed showed here, Du Plessis was getting inventive with his shotmaking as the innings rumbled on:
Smith departed for a sharp 38 from 26 balls in the 18th over, leaving Du Plessis to try to push on. The opener was unable to bat through, though, eventually departing for a gritty 67.
Du Plessis' half-century wasn't particularly brisk, but it was a crucial score for his team and a foundation for others to build upon.
As statistician Mohandas Menon noted, it was one of the slowest 50s of the tournament to date:
Indeed, it gave Kings XI Punjab a target of 152 for seven to try and chase down—a mark that looked a little below-par on paper. Yet for a team who were without a win in the IPL this season, it was never going to be easy.
The opening duo came out and played magnificently, though, settling any lingering nerves the side would have had about the chase.
Vijay, as he often does, played with a calmness, nudging the ball around and seeking to rotate the strike. Meanwhile, Vohra let his hands go at the other end, hammering the ball to the boundary regularly in a 33-ball 51 before he was trapped leg before wicket (lbw) by Ankit Sharma.
As Cricbuzz noted, he’s been in excellent form in this year’s tournament:
"Manan Vohra brings his second fifty in the Indian T20 League. He has hit 7 boundaries so far. #KXIPvRPS #Cricket https://t.co/0z4Nq4lsnu
— Cricbuzz (@cricbuzz_scores) April 17, 2016"
When he departed, Kings XI had 97 runs on the board and needed just 56 to win off 46 balls. It was at this point Punjab began to look like a side who have yet to win in this year’s competition, with hesitancy creeping in.
In the 14th over, new man Shaun Marsh was out for just four, and then after bringing up his 50 with a towering six, Vijay also fell. It was Murugan Ashwin who took the two key wickets, and suddenly, there was a sense Kings XI could let this one slip.
When Ashwin struck again in his next over to dismiss David Miller and leave Punjab 119 for four, it was definitely game on.
But in Glenn Maxwell, Kings XI have a man who knows this format of the game inside out, and in the space of six balls, he had this one wrapped up for his team.
The Aussie struck two fours and a two sixes in a devastating spell of hitting, bringing the required rate down below a run-a-ball. It allowed him and Wriddhiman Saha to take their time to finish the contest, which they did with eight balls remaining; Maxwell finished up unbeaten on 32 from 14 balls.
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