Published: May 22, 2017, 10:17 AM (IST)
Edited: May 22, 2017, 10:16 AM (IST)
Steven Smith was a dejected man at the end of the final between Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS) versus Mumbai Indians (MI) in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2017. In what was a thrilling low-scoring encounter for the title clash, Mumbai Indians trumped the Rising Pune Supergiant by a margin of a mere 1 run. Chasing a target of 130, Rising Pune Supergiant lost the plot in the middle overs when they failed to rotate strike. Smith scored a 51-ball 50 but his effort went in vain. He was one of the two batsmen — the other being Manoj Tiwary — to have been dismissed in the final over. Full scorecard: RPS vs MI
“It’s a hard one to swallow. I am proud of the way the boys played throughout the season. A lot of credit should go to Mumbai as well. 130 was an under-par score, but they fought well. They bowled beautifully. I thought [Mitchell] Johnson was magnificent. [Jasprit] Bumrah and [Lasith] Malinga were very good as well. It’s a wonderful tournament to be part of. I would like to thank the RPS team management. It is always nice when you are winning and getting to the final, but it’s a bit disappointing to lose in the final,” Smith said in the post match presentation.
In 15 matches this season, Smith scored as many as 472 runs at 39.33 with the highest of 84 not out, which came against Mumbai Indians in their first match of the tournament. Smit ended as the fourth-highest run-scorer in IPL 10.
Barring their defeat in the final, Rising Pune Supergiant remained a dominant side over Mumbai Indians, winning the previous three matches in IPL 10.
Apart from the two matches in the first round, Rising Pune Supergiant had handed Mumbai Indians a shocking defeat in the Qualifier 1 which forced the Rohit Sharma-led side to play the Qualifier 2 to make it to the final.
