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IPL 2016: RPS, KXIP look to avoid wooden spoon

The match was intense, as the players would be on the cricket field, with every line call contested with trainer Greg King, who acted as the referee. The vigour with which RPS contested in IPL did not show in their results.

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RPS players play foot-volleyball in their hotel on Friday
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The cyclonic rainfall over the last two days has forced the bottom two-placed teams Rising Pune Supergiants and Kings XI Punjab indoors. Their scheduled practice on Friday afternoon, the eve of their last IPL 2016 encounter, was cancelled with the YS Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium covered. Neither team would want to lose this game and face the embarrassment of taking home the wooden spoon.

As the rain stopped late on Friday afternoon, some of the RPS players including Ravichandran Ashwin, Ajinkya Rahane, Adam Zampa, Thisara Perera, Ashok Dinda, Scott Boland and Usman Khawaja played a game of foot-volleyball on the hotel lawn overseeing the Bay of Bengal with the sweet music of the waves in the background. George Bailey was more interested in swimming than in the game, with some others joining him later.

The match was intense, as the players would be on the cricket field, with every line call contested with trainer Greg King, who acted as the referee. The vigour with which RPS contested in IPL did not show in their results.

Despite the huge setback of losing four frontline overseas players – Kevin Pietersen, Faf du Plessis, Steve Smith and Mitchell Marsh – due to injuries in the first half of the tournament, MS Dhoni's men did put up a valiant show. But that hasn't been enough.

Click here for the full coverage of the IPL 2016, including commentary, fixtures, scorecards and more.

The only encouraging sign was that despite being seventh in the table with just four wins and nine losses, they have a positive net run-rate (+0.013), while some of the higher-placed teams in contention for the playoffs are in the negative.

RPS bowling coach Eric Simons made a pertinent point on Friday when he said: "It has been an interesting season because there has been a lot of 'what ifs'. If you look at the number of games that we should have won, there were easily three or four games that would have put us right in the mix and this game (vs KXIP on Saturday) becomes qualifying. That we are second bottom of the table with a positive NRR shows we have competed right through."

RPS have struggled with bowling throughout the tournament, having failed to defend on seven occasions. It was in the second half of the tournament that Ashok Dinda (10 wickets) and leg-spinner Adam Zampa (11) got to play regularly and took wickets. Their strike bowler R Ashwin had a forgettable IPL with him taking only six wickets in a tournament in which the spinners have had little purchase. Ashwin's inability to take wickets has had a major say in the RPS show.

Simons said: "It is rare to see Ashwin not be among the wickets. He is frustrated, obviously disappointed that he has not got more wickets. But, sometimes, you have to play a role within your team and sometimes, somebody runs up and bowls a tight line, restricting the opposition and somebody else takes wickets. It is very much about operating as a unit rather than as an individual. Ashwin is a quality performer, he knows what he is about and what needs to do."

While RPS may be tempted to try out a couple of players who have been sitting on the bench throughout the league, Simons said "they would not disrespect the opposition and not disrespect the match".

While RPS have the confidence from their previous outing when everything fell in place against Delhi Daredevils here on Tuesday, KXIP have been battered by Virat Kohli's fourth IPL century and an 82-run loss in Bengaluru two days ago.

KXIP, also with eight points from four wins and nine losses, would look to avoid a second successive eighth-place finish. But one positive they will look at, as their opener Hashim Amla said, from this season "is that they have won one more game this year than last year".

KXIP have been struggling with their foreign recruits this season. Though they have had some quality players, they have failed to come good, putting more pressure on the Indian cricketers.

Original captain David Miller's form took a beating and despite the reins passing on to Murali Vijay, the former's show with the bat did not improve. Only all-rounder Marcus Stoinis has shown good promise for KXIP. The onus has been on Vijay and Wriddhiman Saha with the bat, and Sandeep Sharma, Mohit Sharma and Axar Patel with the ball. Unlike RPS, Punjab's losses have come while both chasing and defending, 4:5 being the ratio.

Amla, who joined the tournament after eight games as a replacement for injured Shaun Marsh, said: "No team wants to be last in the lot and I'm sure every team plays their cricket with a great amount of pride and passion. So, no doubt that Kings XI are in the same boat. We want to finish IPL on a good note. Certainly, lots of players want to do well. It's disappointing with the position we are in but you've got to make the best of every situation you are in. The best for us in this situation will be to win the last game for everybody to at least leave on a happier note."

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