IPL: Mumbai unable to Rise over Pune as Supergiants make it past the Qualifier
With a less than ideal start and a virtually slow if not stagnant run rate throughout the game, it was Dhoni who came in and started firing Maximums more than Fours to give the Pune Supergiants the acceleration they needed to run that final mile of the race. But faced with undoubtedly the most formidable team this season, will that be enough for the Supergiants to rise above their adversary? Let’s find out…
| RPS | 162 – 4 |
| Starting XI | Ajinkya Rahane, Rahul Tripathi, Steven Smith (c), Manoj Tiwary, MS Dhoni (wk), Daniel Christian, Washington Sundar, Lockie Ferguson, Shardul Thakur, Jaydev Unadkat, Adam Zampa |
| MI | To Bat |
| Starting XI | Parthiv Patel (wk), Lendl Simmons, Rohit Sharma (c), Ambati Rayudu, Krunal Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Karn Sharma, Mitchell McClenaghan, Lasith Malinga, Jasprit Bumrah |
Simmons and Parthiv Patel to open for Mumbai. Unadkat proved too much to handle for the batsmen who managed to score an embarrassing single run off six deliveries. The second over saw Parthiv Patel make up for lost runs with a perfectly timed flick of the wrists sending the ball over the deep square boundary for a maximum. Four balls scored out of two overs so far. Parthiv Patel opened with a Six as he and Simmons shared four runs between them for the third over. Patel got his third Six in the fourth over with a frustrated Ferguson bowling two wides. Is Parthiv going to be for Mumbai what MS Dhoni was for Pune? After a Four, PP’s hit sees a napping Simmons get Run Out. Unlucky or well-timed by SN Thakur? No body knows. Patel gets another Four off SNT’s last delivery, as Mumbai Indians reach 41-1.
The Captain Rohit Sharma is greeted by Washington Sundar with an on target delivery that the former struggles to clear. LBW declares the umpire. Ambati Rayudu replaces the exiting batsman and goes out as fast as he came when his glory shot gets caught by Smith sending him out for a duck. Looks like Washington is washing clean Mumabi’s batsmen today. Pollard replaces Rayudu and scores one run off the last ball. In the seventh over both Pollard and Patel score a single each before Pollard drives a well-timed shot into the fence for a Four. Washington Sundar came on again into the attack and this time Pollard gets washed away by the wave as his flick was more of a hope-filled maneuver than a calculated hit, gets Caught by Smith. Hardik Pandya comes in and plays a good game partnering with Patel. Patel gets a Four and his teammate reciprocates off the last ball. In the tenth over, Pandya lets one fly over the boundary as he shares three singles with the other P. MI reach 71 – 4.
Daniel Christian comes into the attack as both the Ps keep running to score four off six balls. Lockie Ferguson comes in for the twelfth over and Hardik Pandya falls right into the bowler’s trap as he lifts the ball straight into the long-on who reverse cups it. Krunal Pandya replaces the fallen Pandya. Fergie slips as he throws wide every three balls thereafter for a funny three wides in total. Washington comes back and if his mind games didn’t cause the batsmen to let a wicket fall, they certainly got them from making any boundary-crossers this over. Four runs scored from his deliveries. Daniel Christian comes back into the attack as Parthiv and Pandya take turns scoring from every delivery bowled. Pandya scores two Fours from the last two deliveries. SN Thakur comes in and sends his knuckle ball at Pandya who drives it for a maximum only to be caught on the ropes at long-off by Christian. Sets a similar bait for Parthiv who bites – again sends the ball flying to long-off only to be caught by Christian. Mumbai reach 103 – 7.
Four runs scored off the sixteenth over as Mumbai struggle with below-par run rate. Unadkat comes into the attack and gets the eight wicket dismissing Karn Sharma via Catch Out by Dhoni. With a mounting run rate with each passing over, and no more wickets to throw away, Bumrah grabs a few safe runs before sending the ball into the audience for a glory hit, but not enough to get to glory perhaps? Unadkat back into it as Bumrah and McClenaghan get three singles off his attack. The final ball is send home for a Sixer that is caught by Rahane only that Rahane’s feet are touching the rope. Rahane is honest to signal that he isn’t sure. The umpire declares a Six. Mumbai reach 133-8 as they go into the final over. McCleaghan gets caught out as boundaries fail to be touched. Lasith Malinga comes as the final batsman for Mumbai and finishes in style as he blasts off as Sixer but Mumbai slump to defeat anyway.
| Final Score | 142/9 |
