A vintage MS Dhoni [61* off 34 balls] run chase guided Rising Pune Supergiant to a thrilling win over Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium on Saturday.
The former India captain has faced a fair deal of criticism over the course of the ongoing Indian Premier League [IPL] and he answered his critics in fine style, showing that he is still one of the game’s greatest finishers.
It looked like a tall task for Pune who needed 47 runs to win from the final three overs, but they had Dhoni at the crease and the Ranchi-born cricketer, along with Manoj Tiwary [17* off 8 balls], took RPS to their third win of the season.
After the duo managed 17 runs off the 18th over, Dhoni took Bhuvneshwar Kumar – who has arguably been the best bowler in this season’s IPL – to the cleaners. Dhoni hit two fours and one six as 19 runs came in the penultimate over.
With 11 runs needed off the final over, the responsibility once again fell to Siddarth Kaul who had kept his nerve to win Sunrisers the previous two matches in a similar situation. He was unfortunate with the first ball of the over as Rashid Khan dropped Manoj Tiwary and the ball rolled over the ropes for four further runs.
Kaul did not concede a boundary from the next four balls as the equation went down to two runs needed off the final ball. Fortunately for the hosts, Dhoni was on strike and he powered the ball past cover for a boundary to complete a memorable six-wicket victory for Steve Smith’s side and send the crowd into a frenzy.
Earlier, after Smith won the toss and put the Sunrises into bat, David Warner [43 off 40 balls] and Shikhar Dhawan [30 off 29 balls] got the visitors off to a solid start, putting on a half-century stand for the opening wicket.
Although the duo added 55 runs, they would have been disappointed at the scoring rate considering the partnership lasted a little over eight overs.
Coming into the game on the back of a superbly made 89 against Delhi Daredevils, Kane Williamson [21 off 14 balls] looked to be in good touch once again, but his innings was cut short by a brilliant slower delivery from Dan Christian.
Christian was the most impressive of the bowlers for Pune, picking up one wicket and conceding just 20 runs from his four overs.
Warner’s innings was uncharacteristically slow as he struggled to get going during his 40-ball stay at the crease.
Moises Henriques [55* off 28 balls] was on hand to provide the required impetus at the back-end of the innings and push the Sunrisers’ total to 176-3 in their 20 overs. The Australian, along with Deepak Hooda [19* off 10 balls], added 58 unbeaten runs from just 23 deliveries for the fourth wicket.
In reply, Pune lost Ajinkya Rahane [2 off 7 balls] early, but Rahul Tripathi [59 off 41 balls] played a brilliant innings to keep his team in the match.
Smith [27 off 21 balls] got a start but fell to Rashid who bowled a superb spell – conceding just 17 runs in his four overs. The Afghanistan cricketer also produced a splendid fielding effort to run Tripathi out.
Unsurprisingly, Dhoni was named as the Player of the Match for his superb knock.
BRIEF SCORES
Sunrisers Hyderabad 176-3, 20 overs [Henriques 55*, Warner 43, Christian 1-20] lost to Rising Pune Supergiant 179-4, 20 overs [Dhoni 61*, Tripathi 59, Rashid 1-17] by six wickets.
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