lost to Mumbai Indians 161/2 in 18.3 overs (Rohit Sharma 85*, Jos Buttler 27*; Ravichandran Ashwin 1-21) by 8 wickets.
A fine bowling performance in the death overs, thanks largely to Bumrah's three-wicket haul, and a well-paced half-century by Rohit Sharma helped Mumbai Indians defeat Rising Pune Supergiants by eight wickets in what was the final match of IPL on Sunday.
Asked to bat, the Supergiants rode on a 84-run second wicket-stand off 52 deliveries between Steven Smith (45 off 23) and Saurabh Tiwary (57 off 45) to get off to a flying start. However, Mumbai Indians pulled it back in the second half of the first essay to restrict the hosts to 159 for five. In reply, Rohit scored an unbeaten 85 off 60 deliveries, with eight fours and three sixes, while Parthiv Patel, Ambati Rayudu and Jos Buttler played supporting roles to help Mumbai Indians reach the target with nine deliveries to spare.
The win was Mumbai Indians's third in as many games and helped them move up to the second spot in the points table, while it was RPS's sixth loss in eight games. They ended their home leg of IPL 2016 without a single win.
The Mumbai Indians openers were kept in check for the first couple of overs, but they freed themselves off the leash when Rohit Sharma took the attack to Thisara Perera. A six and two edges that yielded boundaries got the captain going before Parthiv followed suit, nailing three fours in as many deliveries off Ashok Dinda. Dinda, however, had the last laugh in their little battle as Parthiv, looking for one more boundary, got an edge through to Dhoni.
The next two overs, bowled by debutant Scott Boland and Perera, were economical ones, but Mumbai Indians's scoring rate was almost at par with the required rate at the end of the powerplay. After the powerplay, Rohit, with Rayudu for company, raised a half-century stand to keep the visitors on track in the chase. Although Rayudu fell soon after that, giving R Ashwin his first wicket, Rohit registered his fifth fifty in the current edition, and along with Jos Buttler, took Mumbai past the 100-run mark in the 14th over.
When the required rate was getting close to 10, an 11-run over by Perera, which included a four apiece for Buttler and Rohit, and M Ashwin's 12-run over, which saw Rohit hammer his second six, brought the equation down to 33 off 24. Rohit had some luck going his way when an outside edge off Boland earned him a four in the 17th over, which yielded 11 runs, including two leg-byes. An expensive over from Dinda followed as he conceded three boundaries, before Rohit finished it off in style with a six off M Ashwin in the penultimate over.
Earlier, RPS did not have the best of starts as Ajinkya Rahane, trying to swing across the line, fell to Mitchell McClenaghan in the second over. Smith would have departed early too had Parthiv Patel not put down an inside edge, and much to Southee's frustration, Smith managed three fours in a row, with two coming off inside-edges. Saurabh Tiwary also had a lucky break as Jasprit Bumrah put down a relatively simple chance at mid-on to deny McClenaghan a wicket. Bumrah was also guilty of a mis-field that gave Smith three runs, to add to his four and a six off the left-arm pacer as the Australian made Mumbai Indians pay for the misses.
Centurion in the previous game, Smith looked in prime touch, which seemed to be rubbing off on his partner too as the second-wicket pair took the total past fifty by the end of the powerplay. The carnage continued even after the powerplay as Tiwary took a liking to Krunal Pandya, while his brother Hardik too had an expensive start. Mumbai Indians were in dire need of a wicket or two to restore parity and they managed to get one when Smith, looking to run a Bumrah delivery down to third man, got an edge and a diving Parthiv did not make a mistake this time.
Peter Handscomb, batting for the first time in his IPL career, struggled to get going and he was put out of his misery when an attempted sweep off Harbhajan Singh resulted in a top-edge that landed in the hands of Jos Buttler close to the ropes. A few quiet overs followed as Tiwary and Dhoni, the Jharkhand pair, had to consolidate, and re-lay the platform ahead of the death overs.
Tiwary managed to bring up a 39-ball fifty, which was his second IPL half-century in 40 innings, his previous one coming in the 2013 season. Meanwhile, Habhajan Singh finished an economical spell, giving away only 25 runs off his four overs for one wicket, although his angry reaction when Ambati Rayudu couldn't prevent the ball from reaching the boundary in the 11th over, took a bit of sheen off his performance.
With the total reading 120 for three after 15 overs, Dhoni decided it was time to call on for a meatier piece of blade, but the change of bat did not seem to be doing any help as the skipper played and missed on more than one occasion. But his running between the wickets was as good as ever and he also helped himself to a four when Southee bowled one short in the 17th over.
The New Zealand pacer's over, which yielded 11 runs, was also the first time since the eighth that an over yielded runs in double-digits. Bumrah then bowled a fine over, conceding seven and also accounted for Tiwary and McClenaghan followed it up with another tight over, giving away only six. Bumrah managed to send back Dhoni in the final over and finished with fine figures despite Thisara Perera's six off the final ball.
No comments:
Post a Comment