They had relied on a MS Dhoni-last-ball six to ensure a seventh spot finish in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2016. This time a whirlwind knock of 40 not out by the same man guided Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS) to the grand finale of IPL 2017. RPS beat hot favourites Mumbai Indians (MI) at the latter’s home ground, Wankhede Stadium, in Qualifier I to win the Maharashtra derby and enter the final that will be played on May 21, Sunday at Hyderabad. Full Cricket Scorecard: Mumbai Indians vs Rising Pune Supergiant, IPL 2017, Qualifier 1 at Mumbai
RPS won the contest by 20 runs. The other main protagonist was the teenage off-spinner Washington Sundar. The 17-year-old finished with figures of 4-0-16-3 — bagging the wickets of Rohit Sharma, Ambati Rayudu and Kieron Pollard. Ajinkya Rahane and Manoj Tiwary contributed with crucial fifties that helped RPS to 162 for 4 on a slow surface.
Defending 162, the Pune bowlers got the side off to a good start. Jaydev Unadkat started with a 1-run over. MI came back well to score 29 from the first 4 overs with Parthiv Patel going after the bowlers. Lendl Simmons, struggling at the other end, was dismissed when Parthiv’s straight drive kissed Shardul Thakur’s fingertips on the way to stumps with the non-striker out of the crease. Follow updates of Qualifier I
MI slumped further the following over. Steven Smith was bold enough to bowl Washington in the final over of Powerplay. He repaid his captain’s faith with the wicket of Rohit, trapping him in the front — though there might have been an inside edge. Pune were earlier at the receiving end of the umpire’s decisions when they were denied a wide by S Ravi, while Shamshuddin called a harsh wide off Lockie Ferguson. This time it was MI’s turn to be on the receiving end.
It did not end there. Smith had stationed himself at short mid-wicket. Rayudu, MI’s Man of the Match in the previous game, played one straight to Smith 3 balls later. MI were 42 for 3 after the Powerplay overs. Washington struck again in his next over; this time it was the big wicket of Pollard, MI’s best batter this season. Pollard’s was a soft dismissal as he flicked it straight to Smith, again at short mid-wicket. Credit should go to some smart, bold captaincy.
Hardik Pandya looked threatening before holing out to long-on off Ferguson for 14 off 10 deliveries. Dan Christian took the first of his 3 catches. Hardik’s older brother Krunal replaced him at the crease and added 26 with Parthiv before falling to Thakur. Christian took his second catch.
While almost every MI batsman struggled against the sluggish pace of the surface, but at one end Parthiv Patel batted with relatively ease. It was unfortunate that the Parthiv did not get enough support from his partners. He was finally deceived was by Thakur’s variation in the 15th over; once that happened, MI had no chance. The wicket also handed Christian his third catch of the innings. Parthiv’s 40-ball 52 was probably the most fluent knock of the day.
MI finished with 142 for 9, with Thakur and Washington finishing with 3 wickets each. Unadkat impressed with 4-0-24-1.
Pune’s strange innings
Sent in to bat first by Rohit, RPS managed 162 for 4 after 20 overs. On a slow of surface, Pune lost the in-form Rahul Tripathi and Smith in the first 2 overs. Then an 80-run stand off 67 balls between Ajinkya Rahane (56 off 43 balls) and Manoj Tiwary (58 off 48) brought RPS back in the contest. Rahane slammed his 25th IPL fifty and in the process became the 11th batsman to the 3,000-run milestone in the tournament. Tiwary later added 73 more with Dhoni, who played a peculiar innings, ending on 40 not out from 26 balls: it featured 12 dot balls, 5 sixes but no four!
MI bowlers had done well to choke the run-flow and restrict RPS to 121 for 3 after 18 overs till Dhoni and Tiwary went berserk and plundered 41 from the final 2 overs off Mitchell McClenaghan and Jasprit Bumrah.
While RPS had brought in Ferguson for Stokes, MI made four changes to their side that played in Kolkata. Parthiv, McClenaghan, Bumrah and Lasith Malinga came in, but the surprise bit was Karn Sharma playing ahead of Harbhajan Singh. Karn accounted for the wicket of Rahane.
Mumbai will play the winner of the Wednesday’s Eliminator between Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Friday at Bengaluru.
Brief scores:
Rising Pune Supergiant 162 for 4 in 20 overs (Ajinkya Rahane 56, Manoj Tiwary 57, MS Dhoni 40*; Lasith Malinga 1 for 14) beat Mumbai Indians 142 for 9 in 20 overs (Parthiv Patel 52; Washington Sundar 3 for 16, Shardul Thakur 3 for 37) by 20 runs.
Man of the Match: Washington Sundar.
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