Rising Pune Supergiant cruised into the Indian Premier League play-offs with a one-sided nine-wicket victory over Kings XI Punjab in a do-or-die final group league match, in Pune on Sunday.
From the first ball of the tournament, Pune dominated throughout the game. They bundled Kings XI Punjab out for 73 before knocking off the runs in only 12 overs to finish second with 18 points.
Opener Rahul Tripathi blasted 28 off 20 balls to make a mockery of the chase in an encounter which turned out to be an anti-climax of sorts.
It was the ninth time in 10 seasons of the IPL that a team involving Mahendra Singh Dhoni made it to the final four stage.
The victory gives Supergiant, the cushion of two shots at a place in the final.
They will be playing Mumbai Indians in Qualifier 1 while Sunrisers Hyderabad (3rd with 17 points) will meet Kolkata Knight Riders (4th with 16 points) in the 'Eliminator'.
The match as a contest was over by the time Kings XI Punjab skipper Glenn Maxwell (0) got out with the scoreboard reading 32 for five.
The chase was a mere formality with Tripathi blasting the three Sharmas -- Mohit, Ishant and Sandeep -- for four boundaries before hitting a six over deep mid-wicket off Rahul Tewatia.
The run-rate pressure was non-existent which made it easier for Ajinkya Rahane (34 not out) and skipper Steve Smith (15 not out) to knock off the runs after Tripathi got out.
Rahane finished the match with a six off Maxwell.
Put into bat, Kings XI Punjab put up their worst batting performance of the season when it mattered the most. The visitors got bowled out for 73 - their lowest ever IPL score.
Axar Patel (22) and Wriddhiman Saha (13) were the major contributors for Punjab's cause.
Martin Guptill (0) was dismissed by Jaydev Unadkat on the very first ball of the innings caught at short cover by Manoj Tiwary.
After adding 19 runs to the score with Saha, incoming batsman Shaun Marsh (10) was also dismissed by Daniel Christian in the fourth over and the scoreboard read 19/2.
Punjab's middle-order suffered a collapse with Eoin Morgan (4), who was playing in place of Manan Vohra, Rahul Tewatia (4) and skipper Glenn Maxwell (0) failing to step up to the occasion. They were all sent packing before seven overs had been bowled.
Saha, who seemed good at the crease, could not handle the pressure and was dismissed by Christian in the 10th over.
Axar Patel, however, showed his temperament and slammed a few boundaries before he was dismissed by Christian in the 12th over.
Lower-order batsmen Swapnil Singh (10), Mohit Sharma (6) and Ishant Sharma (0) were also dismissed in the next three overs to restrict Punjab for 73 runs in 15.5 overs.
For Pune, Shardul Thakur scalped three wickets while Unadkat, Adam Zampa and Christian took two wickets each.
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