Skipper Smith saves the day for Pune in a last over thriller over Mumbai

COURTESY OF TWO striking fifties by Ajinkya Rahane and captain Steve Smith, Rising Pune Supergiant beat Mumbai Indians by seven wickets at Pune in their first game of IPL 10.

Batting first, MI rode on the late heroics of Hardik Pandya to reach 184 after losing eight wickets in the innings. Mumbai did not have any major partnerships after the opening stand between Parthiv Patel and Jos Butler was broken by Imran Tahir. The duo combined 45 runs before the RPS’ latest buy removed Patel. 

The South African leggie produced a sensational spell of three for 28 as he claimed the top three from MI’s batting attack. However, Pandya’s quick 35 off 15 balls while batting alongside Kieron Pollard, helped the Mumbai franchise add 64 runs to the board in the final five overs. 

While Rajat Bhatia picked two wickets, Adam Zampa and IPL 2017 auction’s priciest player Ben Stokes picked one wicket each. 

For RPS, Ajinkya Rahane remained as the anchor of their chase for more than half of their innings. The flamboyant opener displayed some magnificent strokes as he hit 64 off 34 balls. He was dismissed on Tim Southee’s delivery after Nitish Rana pulled a fantastic diving catch. Unfortunately, Rana did not attract prolonged praise as he failed to hold onto Steve Smith’s shot two overs later, giving the Aussie batsman a lifeline at 36 runs. 

After Rahane’s dismissal, Smith was joined in by Ben Stokes, who made 21 off 14 balls in his debut IPL game. The English all-rounder was the last wicket to fall as Smith and Dhoni clinched the game in a final over thriller. While Pollard was handed responsibility to restrict RPS from scoring 13 off six balls, Smith, who scored an unbeaten 84 off 54, struck two sixes off fourth and the fifth ball to finish the game in style. 

The repeat of the same fixture will be played on April 24 in Mumbai.

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