England’s Liam Livingstone scored an unbeaten 49 off 22 balls as the Punjab Kings thrashed the Sunrisers Hyderabad by five wickets in the last IPL league match on Sunday.

With all four playoff berths booked before the match, both the teams played for pride and Punjab came out on top to take sixth spot in the 10-team table.

Chasing 158 for victory, Punjab rode on Livingstone’s knock laced with five sixes to achieve their target in 15.1 overs at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium.

Livingstone, who became the most expensive overseas player in the IPL auction when Punjab bought the batting all-rounder for $1.52 million, survived two dropped catches on six and 25 to take the team home.

He smashed Romario Shepherd over the wide long-off region for the 1,000th six of this IPL edition and hammered one more in the over.

“I felt like I was hitting the ball well throughout the tournament,” Livingstone said after his blitz. “The way we played today was perfect – attacking as well as being smart.”

Livingstone, who can also bowl off and leg-spin, amassed 437 runs in 14 matches at a strike rate of 182.

Hyderabad speedster Umran Malik clocked speeds of over 150 km/h and returned figures of 1-24 on a day he got his India callup for the upcoming T20Is against South Africa.

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One of Malik’s rising deliveries caught skipper Mayank Agarwal on the ribs with the batsman taking a while to return to the crease but soon got out for one.

Monday is a rest day before the playoffs begin with the first qualifier between the table-topping Gujarat Titans and second-placed Rajasthan Royals on Tuesday in Kolkata.

The Lucknow Super Giants, one of the two new teams alongside Gujarat in this year’s expanded 10-team IPL, will play the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the eliminator on Wednesday.

The final will be played on 29 May at the world’s biggest cricket stadium in Ahmedabad.

© Agence France-Presse