IPL 2017, RPS vs SRH: MS Dhoni powers Rising Pune Supergiant's to win
Pune: MS Dhoni turned back the clock as he hammered 61 off 34 balls to seal Rising Pune Supergiant’s last-ball win against defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad here on Saturday.
Dhoni, who was backed by RPS skipper Steve Smith ahead of the game, proved why he continues to be one of the best finishers in the game as he made sure RPS sealed their second win in a row.
Batting first, SRH, despite struggling in the first 15 overs, scored 176 courtesy Moises Henriques's quickfire fifty. While David Warner scored 43, he consumed 40 balls to score those runs. Kane Williamson, who powered SRH to victory in their previous game, once again looked promising, but could not repeat the feat despite a brisk start to his innings.
Chasing 177, RPS lost Ajinkya Rahane early. But Rahul Tripathi (59), who notched up his maiden T20 fifty, kept RPS in hunt as he and Smith put up a 72-run stand before Rashid Khan dismissed the Australian skipper. Tripathi got out soon after as the young Afghanistan cricketer's direct hit ended Tripathi's stay in the middle.
While Dhoni took his time to get going, he and Manoj Tiwary (17 off 8 balls) helped RPS cross the finish line after Ben Stokes was out in the 17th over.
Rising Pune Supergiant 121/4 from 16.1 overs:
WICKET! Bhuvi strikes. Ben Stokes departs as he looks to clear the ground. How often Bhuvi strikes when the team needs it!
Rising Pune Supergiant 121/3 from 16 overs:
Ben Stokes and MS Dhoni will hold key to RPSG's future as they look to win their second game in a row.
Rising Pune Supergiant 101/3 from 14 overs:
WICKET! Excellent work in the field from Rashid Khan as Rahul Tripathi gets out run out. He was quick to get to the ball and the direct hit caught Tripathi short.
Rising Pune Supergiant 87/2 from 10.5 overs:
WICKET! Rashid Khan dismisses Steve Smith. Big wicket. Smith fails to read a googly and castled. Rashid and his googlies continue to bamboozle batsmen in IPL 10.
Rising Pune Supergiant 83/1 from 10 overs:
Just when it started to look that Sunrisers Hyderabad had pulled back the things, Steve Smith targets Bipul Sharma in his final over of the spell. RPS now need 94 runs 10 overs to win this game.
Rising Pune Supergiant 55/1 from 6 overs:
Bipul Sharma dismissed Rahane early but Rahul Tripathi is doing a fine job attacking SRH bowlers. He is looking at ease as RPS move past 50-run mark in powerplay overs.
Sunrisers Hyderabad 176/3 from 20 overs:
Sunrisers Hyderabad scored 63 runs off last 30 balls after struggling to get going in the first 15 overs. Moises Henriques scored 55 off 28 balls to lead SRH to a fighting total.
Sunrisers Hyderabad 134/3 from 17 overs:
WICKET! Jaydev Unadkat has dismissed David Warner for 43 as he could not execute a switch hit. Deepak Hooda joins Henriques in the middle.
Sunrisers Hyderabad 113/2 from 15 overs:
Moises Henriques gets into the groove straightway. Looks to assert some pressure on RPS bowlers. Sunrisers Hyderabad need some quick runs.
Sunrisers Hyderabad 85/2 from 13 overs:
WICKET! Dan Christian has dismissed ever so dangerous Kane Williamson. The Kiwi skipper missed an off cutter from the Australian and trapped before the wickets.
Sunrisers Hyderabad 57/1 from 9 overs:
WICKET! Imran Tahir has struck with a delivery that should have been dispatched into the stands. Shikhar Dhawan though misses the chances and gives an easy catch in the deep. Coming back, we must Tahir has a way to get wickets.
Sunrisers Hyderabad 34/0 from 5 overs:
David Warner and Shikhar Dhawan have made sure Sunrisers Hyderabad don't lose any wickets early. While Dhawan has been aggressor and Warner has looked comfortable in the middle.
Pune: Rising Pune Supergiant have won the toss and elected to bowl against David Warner-led Sunrisers Hyderabad here on Saturday.
The Steve Smith-led side have made one change to the team which defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore as Washington Sundar replaces Rahul Chahar while Sunrisers Hyderabad have brought in Bipul Sharma in place of unwell Yuvraj Singh.
who are at the eight spot in IPL 2017 points table, will have a task at hand as they host defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium here on Saturday.
Having lost 4 out of their six games, Steve Smith-led side need to win their second game in a row after defeating Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore in their previous game at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. But for that to happen, RPS bowlers must put up their hands and don’t allow David Warner, Kane Williamson and Co to go hammer and tongs.
RPSG’s batting unit too needs to come good against a bowling attack ably led by Bhuvneshwar Kumar. The Purple Cap holder has scalped 15 wickets this IPL season so far and has bowled well while opening the bowling and at the death.
Squads:
Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS):
Steve Smith (captain), MS Dhoni, Faf du Plessis, Lockie Ferguson. Usman Khawaja, Jaskaran Singh, Saurabh Kumar, Ben Stokes, Milind Tondon, Manoj Tiwary, Jaydev Unadkat, Adam Zampa, Imran Tahir, Mayank Agarwal, Baba Aparajith, Ankush Bains, Ankit Sharma, Rajat Bhatia, Deepak Chahar, Daniel Christian, Rahul Chahar, Ashok Dinda.
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH):
David Warner(captain), Moises Henriques, Kane Williamson, Yuvraj Singh, Deepak Hooda, Naman Ojha, Shikhar Dhawan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ashish Nehra, Rashid Khan, Barinder Sran, Ricky Bhui, Siddarth Kaul, Bipul Sharma, Ben Cutting, Abhimanyu Mithun, Vijay Shankar, Mohammad Nabi, Eklavya Dwivedi, Pravin Tambe, Ben Laughlin, Tanmay Agarwal, Mohammed Siraj, Chris Jordan.
