IPL Results 2016: Scores, Points Table, Schedule and More After May 21 Fixtures
MS Dhoni hit a six off the final ball to steer Rising Pune Supergiants to victory over Kings XI Punjab by four wickets in the 2016 Indian Premier League at Visakhapatnam on Saturday.
Dhoni's heroics meant Murali Vijay and Gurkeerat Singh ended up on the losing side despite both hitting half-centuries for Kings XI.
The win meant the Supergiants sealed seventh place. Kings XI finished rooted to the bottom of the standings.
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In Saturday's other clash, Gujarat Lions booked their play-off spot by beating Mumbai Indians. Here's what the standings look like following the results:
| 1 | GL | 14 | 9 | 5 | -0.374 | 2130/264.3 | 2285/271.1 | 18 |
| 2 | SRH | 13 | 8 | 5 | +0.355 | 1933/239.5 | 1907/247.3 | 16 |
| 3 | RCB | 13 | 7 | 6 | +0.930 | 2474/252.1 | 2207/248.3 | 14 |
| 4 | KKR | 13 | 7 | 6 | +0.022 | 1952/233.2 | 1972/236.2 | 14 |
| 5 | DD | 13 | 7 | 6 | -0.102 | 1902/239.1 | 1968/244.2 | 14 |
| 6 | MI | 14 | 7 | 7 | -0.146 | 2194/272.2 | 2190/267.0 | 14 |
| 7 | RPS | 14 | 5 | 9 | +0.015 | 2025/244.5 | 1991/241.1 | 10 |
| 8 | KXIP | 14 | 4 | 10 | -0.646 | 2134/269.4 | 2224/259.5 | 8 |
Here are the upcoming fixtures:
| Sunday, May 22 | 11:30 a.m. / 4 p.m. | Kolkata Knightriders vs. Sunrisers Hyderabad |
| Sunday, May 22 | 3:30 p.m. / 8 p.m. | Delhi Daredevils vs. Royal Challengers Bangalore |
Mumbai Indians vs. Gujarat Lions
Gujarat, 173/4 (Raina 58, Bravo 2-22) bt Mumbai, 172/8 (Rana 70, Kumar 2-17) by six wickets (with 13 balls remaining).
Lions and Indians met with a play-off spot on the line, with the winner of Saturday's clash assuring themselves of a top-four finish. Cricket writer Ayaz Memon didn't see such a scenario coming midway through the season:
Lions won the toss and elected to bowl, finding success early against star opener Rohit Sharma (30 from 17) and Martin Guptil (seven from nine). Both were caught before the end of the fifth over, as Mumbai aggressively searched for the boundary at the expense of wickets.
Krunal Pandya (four from three) also didn't survive the fifth over, but Nitish Rana (70 from 36) and Jos Buttler (33 from 31) struck a strong partnership in the middle overs, bringing some stability to Mumbai's order.
Buttler was caught by Dwayne Bravo in the 15th, but by that time, Indians had already scored 120 and were looking at a score close to 200. Kieron Pollard, Harbhajan Singh and the rest of Mumbai's batsmen failed to add to the run rate late, however, and the defending champions had to settle for 172.
Bravo finished with solid figures of two for 22, while Praveen Kumar also held his own, finishing with figures of two for 24.
Lions made the controversial decision to pair star opener Brendon McCullum (48 from 27) with Aaron Finch instead of Dwayne Smith or Suresh Raina, and Gujarat's first over proved disastrous, as the team didn't score a single run and lost Finch.
Memon didn't understand the tactical switch:
But McCullum and Raina (58 from 36) picked up the slack, quickly pushing the run rate into double digits. McCullum was bowled in the 10th over by Singh, but at the midway point, Gujarat's score was 100, and the team seemed on its way to the play-offs.
Raina was caught in the 13th over, and Gujarat's attack slowed down as a result, but thanks to Smith (unbeaten 37), victory was within reach after 15, with the team needing just 26 from 30.
Ravindra Jadeja provided the winning run with a single with two overs to spare.
Making the play-offs is a wonderful achievement for Gujarat, who are playing in their first ever IPL campaign and have been among the top teams from the very start of the season. Few teams are as balanced as Lions, and with the likes of Raina and McCullum swinging the bat, the potential for a huge score is always there.
Reigning champions Mumbai will likely not make the play-offs, and management will have to ask some serious questions ahead of next season.
Rising Pune Supergiants vs. Kings XI Punjab
Rising Pune Supergiants (173-6) beat Kings XI Punjab (172-7) by four wickets
Punjab needed Vijay's class at the crease to overcome yet another sluggish overall performance from the batting unit. He sent seven deliveries to the boundary, including a quartet of fours and a hat-trick of sixes, according to ESPNcricinfo.
But Gurkeerat proved even more spectacular, prompting an obvious question from the same source:
The prolific pair helped Kings XI set a score of 172, a daunting target for the Supergiants.
Things didn't begin well for Pune's batsmen, when Punjab wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha helped remove Ajinkya Rahane and George Bailey in quick succession, stumping the latter after only nine runs.
But a late four from Dhoni kept the Supergiants in with a chance, and his batting left them chasing 44 runs off 18 balls.
Dhoni's late partnership with Thisara Perera proved a good source of boundaries for Rising Pune, as right-handed medium-pacer Sandeep Sharma struggled to shift either man.
Another boundary from Dhoni, this one a six, meant the Supergiants needed 29 runs from 12 balls. But Perera was soon caught behind off a Mohit Sharma delivery to dampen the Supergiants' mood.
Dhoni was still on the wicket after he twice refused runs late on. Instead, he continued going for the boundaries, a strategy that paid off with two sixes and another four.
Bizarrely, a dog invaded the pitch, momentarily breaking the tension, with the Supergiants needing six off the final ball. Dhoni remained unfazed by the distraction to smash his final six for a memorable, last-ball win.
It was a disappointing season for both teams, but this game at least provided a fine memory for fans of the Supergiants.
It's a rare poor finish for a Dhoni-led team, as ESPNcricinfo detailed:
All scorecard information per ESPNcricinfo.com.
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