Published: Apr 14, 2016, 09:36 PM (IST)
Edited: Apr 14, 2016, 11:55 PM (IST)
Rising Pune Supergiants (RPS) won the toss and elected to bat in their second game of the India Premier League Season 9 against Gujarat Lions. Both teams are going head to head for the first time in IPL history. With no changes to the winning combination, Dhoni came out with the same squad RPS fielded against MI. Here are the highlights of the first innings as Ajinkya Rahane and Faf Du Plessis came out to bat. LIVE CRICKET SCORECARD: Gujarat Lions vs Rising Pune Supergiants, Live Score, 6th T20 Match, IPL 2016
Rahane looks good: Ajinkya Rahane played some excellent shots off the spinners Shadab Jakati and Pravin Tambe in the first 4 overs but was out for 21 off 17 balls. Rahane was picking the length very well before he lost his wicket. He looked like he would get another big one for his side, but Raina brought Tambe into the attack and he produced the breakthrough for his side. The ball skid off the surface and Rahane was on his way after looking dangerous at the start. IPL 2016 Schedule, Time Table, Fixture PDF Download
Du Plessis-KP show: Du Plessis didn’t stop after Rahane’s wicket. He continued to find the fence every now and then. Kevin Pieterson soon started finding the boundary too. The duo were scoring at a good pace and the GL bowlers needed to break the partnership badly. At the 10 over mark RPS were 87-1. There were almost no dot balls during this stage of the game as used their feet and took plenty of doubles. In 13 overs RPS stood at 111 on the board with the loss of just one wicket. Du Plessis reached his fifty in 33 balls. Pieterson was out for 37 later, picked up by Bravo’s brilliant slower one. Soon Du Plessis was out stumped too after a brilliant innings of 69.
Bravo’s tricks: Dwayne Bravo was excellent when he came back into the attack after his first over. His slower ones and yorkers did the trick for his side. He got rid off Pieterson just when he was looking to accelerate. Pieterson was unable to pick him up and struggled through the whole over in which he got out. Bravo bowled his third over well too when Dhoni and Marsh were at the crease.
Australians fail: The Australian captain Steven Smith’s bad form continued with the bat as he could not get many runs for his side. It was bad news for the RPS fans as Smith was caught off Jadeja trying to go over extra cover. Jadeja was too good for Marsh too. He sent the all-rounder back to the dug-out with a quicker one. GL had made a superb comeback into the game, but a good last over could still mean that the momentum was with RPS.
Dhoni’s finish: Mahendra Singh Dhoni faced Bravo in the last over of the innings. He hit 3 doubles, 2 boundaries and one six off the West Indian’s last over. His finish gave RPS a hope and something for their bowlers to defend as they looked like they fell short by 20-25 runs. RPS finished at 163-5 in 20 overs after Du Plessis’s great knock.
Karan Dewan, a reporter with CricketCountry, loves following and playing sports. He is a Team India fan and loves winning. Follow him on his twitter handle @karan13dewan.)
