Mumbai Indians (MI) ended the league stages at the top spot with 20 points. Two of their four defeats came against Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS). A similar result was witnessed on Tuesday with RPS winning the Maharashtra derby by 20 runs in Qualifier I to enter the grand finale. In a match that started with MI dominating by choking the RPS’ run-flow, it soon took a drastic turn with Ajinkya Rahane and Manoj Tiwary’s fifties followed by fireworks from MS Dhoni. It was later Washington Sundar’s three-for that inflicted severe damage to the much-famed MI batting, and the hosts could not recover. Let us go through the highlights from the game. Full Cricket Scorecard: Mumbai Indians vs Rising Pune Supergiant, IPL 2017, Qualifier 1 at Mumbai
Mitchell McClenaghan strikes: Putting RPS into bat, MI were right on top as McClenaghan struck in the first over by cleaning up the in-form Rahul Tripathi. RPS further slumped to 9 for 2 when Steven Smith fell to Lasith Malinga. Without Ben Stokes, their batting was already weak and, with 2 early wickets, Pune had their back on the wall.
Rahane’s rescue act: MI bowlers had stifled the run-flow, restricting Pune to 33 for 2 after the Powerplay. Rahane fought poor form and crafted an attractive 43-ball 56. In the process, he completed 3,000 IPL runs and became the 11th batsman to do so. He added 80 off 67 with Tiwary for the third wicket before misreading a Karn Sharma leg-spinner to depart.
Slow and steady Tiwary wins the race: Going under a run-a-ball, Tiwary’s outing on the sluggish surface was beginning to hurt Pune’s run-rate. However, the 31-year-old remained undeterred and waited for the apt moment to shift gears. He finished with 58 runs from 48 balls before being run out off the final ball. It was the 73-run stand between Dhoni and him that made a massive difference to the game.
The crafty Krunal: Hardik Pandya is already playing in the Indian blues and, if his elder brother Krunal continues the same way, we might very well see another set of brothers from Baroda making it to the national camp. Krunal bowled beautifully and altered his length well on a slow surface to finish with 4-0-22-0. Malinga, too, nabbed figures of 3-0-14-1 and in hindsight it was an error that he did not bowl the penultimate over of the innings that cost MI the game.
McClenaghan appeals, but umpire calls it WIDE: You do not mess with umpires, do you? The first ball of the 17th over from McClenaghan was a short one to Dhoni and slightly outside the leg-stump. Dhoni went for a wild hook and missed it completely. McClenaghan and Parthiv Patel got into an optimistic appeal for caught-behind. Umpire S Ravi answered it by spreading the arms and calling it a ‘wide’.
The Dhoni show: There were two parts to Dhoni’s batting: attempts of slogs and misses, increasing the dot ball numbers. He ended up playing 11 dots. Then there were five sixes, four of them in the final two overs of the innings. Dhoni’s 26-ball 40 not out lifted Pune to 162.
Rohit lands in the Pune dugout: MI skipper Rohit Sharma was optimistic. He tried stopping one of the aerial launches from Dhoni’s blade and ended up landing in the RPS dugout. There were iceboxes and kits placed near the ropes, and Rohit almost landed on them. With ICC Champions Trophy 2017 less than a fortnight away, India cannot afford Rohit to get injured again. A lucky escape.
Thakur’s eventful over: Parthiv Patel started well for MI. They had stroked to 29 for 0 after four overs. Shardul Thakur, a Mumbai lad playing for Pune, was handed the ball. Parthiv greeted him with a boundary. Thakur came back well to beat Parthiv with a slower ball, but MI still managed 2 runs off the delivery. The next ball, Parthiv drove straight and the ball flicked Thakur’s palms and hit the stumps. Simmons was out of the crease and thus his knock ended. Parthiv ended the eventful over with another boundary.
Thakur was expensive, but he finished with 3 wickets, giving away 37 runs from his quota of 4 overs.
Washington’s sundar spell: It seems surreal that a 17-year-old would go on and step into the massive boots of Ravichandran Ashwin. That is what Washington Sundar did. He opened the bowling and conceded 8 runs from his first over. Then bowling the last over of the Powerplay, he dismissed Rohit leg-before. The MI skipper was unlucky as he had edged that one. 3 balls later, he sent back Ambati Rayudu. In his next over, he got the priced scalp of the in-form Kieron Pollard.
Washington lived up to his second name as he bowled beautifully, altering the length and flight to bag figures of 4-0-16-3. He was adjudged the Man of the Match.
Parthiv’s fluid fifty: On a track where best of batters struggled to judge the pace, Parthiv looked like he was batting on a different surface. He was timing the ball beautifully off the back and front foot. He slammed his 10th fifty, but got little support from others. Once he departed in the 15th over, the match completely slipped away from MI.
Christian’s catches: Dan Christian being an all-rounder was expected to take over the mantle from Ben Stokes. The Australian all-rounder did not do too badly. He gave away 33 from his 4 overs but, more importantly, he pouched three catches, including one at the edge of the boundary ropes and that of the dangerous Krunal Pandya.
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