Hard Hitting Klaasen comes to Rajasthan Royals for Banned Steve Smith

The countdown has begun for the eleventh edition of the Indian Premier league and with only a handful of days left, franchises are making last-minute additions to their squads.

Returning after a two-year ban, Rajasthan Royals are slated to begin their IPL campaign against Sunrisers Hyderabad on April 9. After Steve Smith was ruled out of the 11th edition following the ball-tampering scandal, South Africa wicketkeeper-batsman Heinrich Klaasen has been named as his replacement. Smith was due to lead the Rajasthan Royals in the upcoming edition of the T20I lucrative league, but he was banned by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) after being imposed a 12-month suspension by the Cricket Australia for his involvement in ball-tampering scandal that took place during the four-match Test series against South Africa.

Considered as one of the few South African players to have managed to cope with Indian spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal, Klaseen has been bought at his base price of Rs 50 lakh after being went unsold at the IPL Players Auction that took place in Bengaluru in January, ESPNcricinfo reported. Klaseen, who made his international debut for South Africa against Indian in February, has a strike rate of 146 after 44 innings in the shortest format of the game.

The updated squad of Rajasthan Royals is as follows: Ajinkya Rahane (capt), D'Arcy Short, Rahul Tripathi, Aryaman Birla, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson, Prashant Chopra, Heinrich Klaasen, Ben Stokes, Stuart Binny, Jofra Archer, K Gowtham, Jatin Saxena, Mahipal Lomror, Zahir Khan, Shreyas Gopal, Midhun S, Ankit Sharma, Anureet Singh, Jaydev Unadkat, Dhawal Kulkarni, Dushmantha Chameera, Ben Laughlin

IPL 2017 final: Proverbial David vs Goliath battle

At the start of the season, even the wildest of Rising Pune Supergiant fans could have predicted that their team would be fighting for the team. 

After a horrific debut season, Supergiant had a shake-up in the team roster and the most visible was that of the leader. 

The team management placed their faith on Australian Steve Smith and Dhoni probably had to endure the biggest blow in his career. 

Neutral cricket lovers would love to see Pune win simply because any underdog team triumphing in a league adds to the aura of the tournament. 

Mumbai Indians have done it before and were favourites to reach this stage before the start of the tournament. But Supergiant have shown earlier that if one team can be its hoodoo, it is Rising Pune Supergiant. 

Smith's Supergiant demolish Kings XI Punjab to enter Playoffs

The Rising Pune Supergiant inflicted a crushing nine-wicket defeat over Kings XI Punjab to secure themselves a place in the Playoffs. Led by Shardul Thakur's 3 for 19, the Supergiant bowlers shot out KXIP for 73, and chased it without breaking a sweat with 48 balls to spare.

We break down the match in five

Wicket of the first ball

This was a virtual knockout, with the winner becoming the fourth and final team to secure a Playoff berth. Hence, a good start is what both sides desired. The first blood was drawn by Jaydev Unadkat, off the very first ball of the match. Martin Guptill, chasing a wide delivery, was out caught at covers. Wriddhiman Saha and Shaun Marsh survived a couple of close catches, and the initial spell from Unadkat and Shardul Thakur shifted the tide early in favour of the Supergiant. Unadkat in particular was nothing short of spectacular on the field. After his first-ball wicket, his terrific piece of fielding resulted in the run out of Eoin Morgan. That wasn't all. He then threw himself at short fine-leg to take a diving catch stunner that sent back Rahul Tewatia. In 5 overs, KXIP were 31/4.

Shardul triple floors KXIP

The Pune surface offered variable bounce, but still bowlers had to deliver. And Shardul Thakur took that mantle to strike three crucial blows. First, it was his wicket of Shaun Marsh, where the batsmen aired a drive and found his Aussie mate Smith at mid off. Smith could have taken him off after two overs, but instead persisted with Thakur. And in reply, the bowler responded to his skipper's call by removing Tewatia and Glenn Maxwell in three balls. While Tewatia fell to that brilliant catch from Unadkat, Maxwell clipped a fuller delivery off his legs straight down Ajinkya Rahane's throat at deep square leg. In three overs, Thakur had stellar figures of 3/14.

Christian, Zampa feast on KXIP batsmen

From 32/5 at the end of Powerplay, there wasn't much scope of restoring order. Wriddhiman Saha and Axar Patel tried doing so but it was always going to be a herculean effort. Saha had a pretty ordinary outing. After struggling for 16 balls, in which he scored 13 runs, the wicketkeeper edged Daniel Christian to MS Dhoni behind stumps. The former Supergiant captain, who had earlier spilled a tough chance latched on to this one for his 100th IPL catch. Christian removed Axar in his next over, leaving KXIP tottering at 62/7 and at a spot from where there just wasn't any coming back. The last three wickets could add just 11 more before being shot out for 73, their lowest IPL total and the third-lowest this season behind Royal Challengers Bangalore's 49 and Delhi Daredevils' 67 (that ironically came against KXIP).

Supergiant cruise in chase

A target of 74 was never going to make Supergiant sweat much, and openers Rahul Tripathi and Ajinkya Rahane ensured there weren't any early speed-bumps. The pair put on 41 patient runs for the opening wicket with Tripathi being the aggressor of the two, hitting four boundaries and a six over midwicket off Tewatia. Rahane seemed content biding his time and rotating the strike and was on 20 when Guptill dropped him at midwicket. KXIP however, did get a breakthrough as Axar cleaned up Tripathi but by then the equation had come down to 33 needed off 87, which Rahane and Smith achieved with 48 balls to spare. Rahane remained unbeaten on 34 with a four, and a six that he hit to score the winning runs.

Supergiant secure Playoff berth

After a dismal last season, the Supergiant joined Mumbai Indians, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kolkata Knight Riders as the fourth team to make it to the Playoffs. With this dominant win, the Supergiant also finished second in the standings next to Mumbai, whom they now face them in Qualifier 1 - they've beaten Mumbai twice already this season. What was expected to be two teams batting hard and tough in this knockout, turned out to be a damp squib. KXIP lost wickets in heap, and the Supergiant got some throw downs ahead of their crucial Qualifier tie.