Indore: Rising Pune Supergiant would aim to build on a promising start when they take on last season’s laggards, Kings XI Punjab, in the Indian Premier League on Saturday.
Steven Smith, who has replaced Mahendra Singh Dhoni as the Pune captain, began the season in style by smashing an unbeaten 84 yesterday to seal a seven wicket win for his team in its IPL opener against Mumbai Indians.
The Australian would be hoping his dream run with the bat rubs off on to the Pune outfit, which is eyeing a turnaround after a forgettable IPL debut last season. The team had finished second last in the standings, only ahead of Kings XI.
Pune’s spinners — Imran Tahir and Adam Zampa — impressed last night but Smith will be expecting more from Ashok Dinda and Deepak Chahar considering the Indian pace duo leaked runs against Mumbai. Ben Stokes, the most expensive foreign buy in the IPL auction, had a decent debut for Pune.
Ajinkya Rahane was sublime at the top of the order while Dhoni didn’t get too much to do with the bat. Smith stole the show courtesy a couple of sixes in the final over of the match.
Pune will be up against Kings XI, a team looking to make amends for finishing last in the previous two seasons.
They would be hoping their bold decision of making Glenn Maxwell the captain, ahead of established names like Eoin Morgan, pays off.
