Chris Lynn of KKR celebrates his half century during an IPL match against Kings XI Punjab in Mohali on Tuesday.
Punjab, who beat already-qualified Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by 14 runs here, now have 12 points from the same number of matches and play Mumbai Indians and Rising Pune Supergiant away.
The top two teams of the league play each other in the playoffs with the loser meeting the victor of the Eliminator involving the third placed and fourth placed teams.
The run out: Kings XI allrounder Axar Patel was everywhere in the field, taking two vital catches and saving a number of runs on the boundary. The equation for KXIP is simple; they have 12 points from 12 matches, and need four more points to give themselves the opportunity to compete for a playoff spot.
KKR got off to a blazing start once again, with Sunil Narine and Chris Lynn adding 39 runs in 3.4 overs when the former was bowled by Mohit Sharma.
Sandeep Sharma was the most successful bowler with two wickets, while Maxwell and Thangarasu Natarajan claimed one wicket each.
The KXIP win also puts pressure on Sunrisers Hyderabad (15 points from 13 games) to win their last match to ensure smooth passage into last four.
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Gambhir's dismissal, however, by no means had marked the end of KKR's chances. But once Narine was out, the runs nearly dried up though Lynn was getting the odd boundaries. The last time KXIP defeated KKR was on 26 April 2014!
Shaun Marsh: The highest run-getter of the inaugural IPL season in 2008 is quite at ease playing pace and spin. Parthiv Patel (38) and Lendl Simmons (59 off 32 balls) smoted the KXIP bowling en route their 99-run stand in only 8.4 overs.
According to our predictions based on the recent performance of both the teams, Kolkata will win today.
But Lynn continued to dominate the bowlers and Knight Riders cruised to 78-1 before slipping to 79-3 in the 10th over, losing captain Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa to leg-spinner Rahul Tewatia in one over. They made a wobbly start but made a late recovery to put up a respectable total at the PCA Stadium here.
Amla's first century - against Mumbai Indians - had also gone in vain when Kings XI could not defend 198, and on Sunday night, they failed to defend 189 against Gujarat Lions.
Just four runs came off Woakes' third over as Glenn Maxwell tried to rebuild in partnership with Wriddhiman Saha, the Australian trying to spark his side's innings into life with two sixes off three Colin de Grandhomme deliveries.
Where KXIP are concerned, the three internationals - Martin Guptill, Shaun Marsh and Glenn Maxwell - need to play the lead role on the batting front.
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