Rahul Tripathi continued with his superb showing as an opener to score his second half-century of the season as Rising Pune Supergiant defeated Kolkata Knight Riders by four wickets in the Indian Premier League at the Eden Gardens on Wednesday.
After limiting KKR to 155 for eight with its tidy bowling, RPS rode on Tripathi's 52-ball 93 to earn its seventh victory with four balls to spare.
Full scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Maharashtra all-rounder Tripathi, who was modestly known in the domestic circuit before making a massive impact in his debut IPL season, carried on his amazing consistency to gather his highest score and seventh 30-plus knock.
Tripathi: ‘Just trying to middle the ball’
Expected to give RPS brisk starts, Tripathi grew in stature by emerging as a match-winner with his strokeful innings, containing nine fours and seven sixes, before being snared at midwicket off Chris Woakes.
Brisk pace
Aided by his sharp eyes and quick feet movement, Tripathi clobbered reputed KKR pacers Nathan Coulter-Nile and Umesh Yadav all over the ground as RPS reached its 50 in 23 balls and 100 in 63.
The 26-year-old was severe on Coulter-Nile, bludgeoning him for three fours and a six in the third over and two fours and a six in the sixth. Tripathi underlined his complete supremacy by slamming three successive sixes off a Kuldeep Yadav over.
Earlier, RPS showcased its expertise in applying brakes on the opposition run flow. It strangulated the KKR batsmen, giving away just 41 at the expense of three wickets in the powerplay, as the host, which missed Robin Uthappa due to a hamstring niggle, recorded its second slowest start of the season.
Jaydev Undakat was fabulous in extracting movement and using the bounce. He had Sunil Narine caught and bowled to achieve RPS' first-ever wicket maiden in the first over and continued miserly to build pressure on the home side.
Young off-spinner Washington Sundar claimed Sheldon Jackson, who earned the dubious distinction of being the first KKR player to be hit wicket, and the prized scalp of Gautam Gambhir, who hit a four and a six in consecutive balls before being caught at deep-midwicket.
Cameos
Imran Tahir struck in his second over, trapping the dangerous Yusuf Pathan in front to leave KKR at 59 for four off 10 overs.
Manish Pandey (37 off 32 balls) and Colin de Grandhomme (36 off 19) collected 48 runs off 30 balls for the fifth to put up KKR's first respectable partnership.
Replacing Andre Russell, de Grandhomme, who muscled Tahir for two soaring sixes, finally contributed meaningfully with the bat before ill-timing Unadkat.
Suryakumar Yadav, replacing Uthappa, dazzled in his 16-ball 30 cameo and punished Unadkat in his last over. His late charge helped KKR cross the 150-mark and helped the host give a fight till the end.
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