Man of the Match- Steve Smith
Summary- RPS had won the toss and had elected to bat. Buttler and Parthiv arrived at crease to lead the attack for MI and they indeed got off a good start, but all fell in quick succession to Tahir-magic as the leggie took 3/28. Things weren't looking good for the away team as they struggled to get a good score until the last over where Hardik struck successive boundaries to take the total to 184.
For the Pune team, it was indeed a huge total, but they too got off to a brilliant start with Rahane playing some applauding shots. Along with Smith, the duo put their score on command. Stokes made a good cameo to continue with their chase. Finally it was Dhoni and Smith who were there till the last over.
13 needed of the last six deliveries. Everyone remembers how good a finisher Dhoni and last season he has displayed it once again against Kings XI Punjab. But this time it was Steve Smith to finish it off in style.
#IPL Match 2: @RPSupergiants win by 7 wickets. MI 184/8 vs. RPS 187/3, Smith (84 off 54), Rahane (60 off 34), Tahir 28/3 #RPSvMI pic.twitter.com/vMl2LVKLcd
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 6, 2017
RISING PUNE SUPERGIANT INNINGS; MUMBAI INDIANS 184/8
Over 19.5 | Score 187/3 | Dhoni 12* ; Smith 84*
Final over for the match. 13 to go for RPS. Dhoni on strike. Surprise! Pollard with the last over. Slow ball and Dhoni strikes down the wicket and it hits the wickets at the runner's end. Doni again back on strike. 11 to go . Real slow from Pollar and Dhoni gets a single. Smith on strike. Six! Smith goes for the big one. Huge from the captain. Slow ball and Smith fensd it over the ropes for a six. Finishing off in style. Commendable captain's innings. RPS WIN THEIR FIRST IPL 10 MATCH, BY 7 WICKETS
Over 19 | Score 172/3 | Dhoni 10* ; Smith 71*
12 balls to go 20 runs to go. A sure match defining over. 10 runs per over. Quite difficult for the Pune team. Clever deliveries from Bumrah. After two failed attempts, Dhoni finally gets a boundary to the fin-leg side. Under pressure and finely executed. Dhoni for the big one now and Southee in the deep and he misses it. Huge opportunity gone
Over 18 | Score 165/3 | Dhoni 4* ; Smith 70*
McClenaghan with the ball. Dhoni on strike now. An orthodox strike to the leg sude for a single. 26 runs 16 balls. Exciting as it gets. Three fielders in the off side and all the deliveries towards off stump. Difficult for Smith who is leg side player. 24 off 13 now. And now a boundary down midwicket region to close the over.
Over 17 | Score 158/3 | Dhoni 2* ; Smith 65*
MI need another wicket to seal their win. Pune on the other hand have their two best batsman on the field with their skipper already at 60. Good running between the wickets from the duo. Classic and stylish cut past the slip for a boundary.
Over 16 | Score 148/3 | Dhoni 1* ; Smith 56*
Hardik to Stokes. Four of the first delivery down midwicket. Pollard tries to stop it, but fails. Ohh..the big man departs. Similar spell, similar shot and now a fielder there to take the catch.
BA Stokes c Southee b HH Pandya 21 (14b)
Dhoni walks in as the crowd cheers his name out loud. What a way to welcome the man. His firts IPL game as a non-captain player. Pandya to continue and Smith gets Dhoni on strike. Off the mark with a single. Smith cuts it to square and gets a quick two.
Over 15 | Score 138/2 | Stokes 17* ; Smith 52*
Smith playing his captain's innings. Good debut as a captain. Southee to Stokes. And he powers it for a boundary down mid-off. Smith takes a quick two to get his fifty. All applause for the skipper. Last 10 months have indeed been incredible for him. 10 of the over. RPS still need 46 of 30 deliveries.
Over 14 | Score 129/2 | Stokes 11* ; Smith 49*
Change of bowling. Pollard comes in. Wonderful way to welcome a new bowler. Slow ball and Smith fends to the fine leg side for a boundary. Now an even slower ball and Smith over lon-on for a six. Gigantic too. Super Smith! Pollard astonished. Stokes still settling into the partnership.
Over 13 | Score 114/2 | Stokes 9* ; Smith 37*
McClenaghan returns. Slow delivery outside off stump. Smith misses the cut and it travels to the keeper. And outside off stump and Smith moves to pull a stunner down midwicket for a four. The bowler is going for outside off deliveries to Smith. Doesnt make a difference. Smith strikes yet another down short fine leg.
Over 12 | Score 105/2 | Stokes 9* ; Smith 28*
Bumrah back in. If MI need to win, they have to stop this partnership. Could prove lethal. Off the middle of the bat, over mid wicket for a four. More of a baseball stroke from Stokes. 100 comes up for Pune. Eight of the over.
Over 11 | Score 97/2 | Stokes 3* ; Smith 26*
Southee returns. Short ball and Rahane pulls it and Rana there to catch it almost at the knick of bounce at deep square leg. But the decision goes upstairs. Finger well underneath the ball and Third umpire announces his decision- OUT
AM Rahane c Rana b Southee 60 (34b )
Well played from Rahane though. Spirited Cricket indeed. Big boy Stokes at the crease. Wasnt good with the bowling, can he strike some good score? Gets off the mark with two runs down cover.
Over 10 | Score 93/1 | Rahane 60* ; Smith 25*
Required RR still is higher than RPS' run rate. Rahane chips it in the air down the wicket for a six, but Pollard jumps real high to take that catch. Fails. Rahane gets a six.
Over 9 | Score 82/1 | Rahane 52* ; Smith 22*
Rahane is striking hard. Playing like a true T20 batsman. Pulls another shot and hovers over deep backward square leg for a four. And with that he brings up his half-century in just 27 balls- 185 SR. Truly inbelievable! Indeed playing some classy shots.
Over 8 | Score 73/1 | Rahane 44* ; Smith 21*
Krunal Pandya in the attack. Two quick runs off the first ball. And then a fine cut shot down square. Smacked of the middle of the bat for a four by Smith. The two have indeed settled in. 10 of the over.
Over 7 | Score 63/1 | Rahane 43* ; Smith 12*
Excellent start from the Pune team. They are cracking boundaries already and they of course need to so.
Hardik with the ball now. Difficult to imagine Rahane playing those shots. His SR is already 180+. Strange, yet commendable. Two batsman going for singles rather than dots. Things have certainly changed between the two since Dharamsala.
Over 6 | Score 59/1 | Rahane 41* ; Smith 10*
McClenaghan returns to be smashed by Smith. First with a four to midwicket and it painfully hits one of the cheergirls. Ouch! And now a six from Rahane over backward point. And now a boundary too. 15 already from the over. Strategic time out
Over 5 | Score 43/1 | Rahane 30* ; Smith 5*
Bumrah is his first over this season. Always a dangerous bowler in T20s. Rahane is also looking good now after all those boundaries he has hit so far. The two batsmen are easing in, but have to hit some boundaries fast. Target is big. Quick single to end the over. Good tight over from MI
Over 4 | Score 39/1 | Rahane 28* ; Smith 3*
And Mumbai Indians get their first wicket. McClenaghan comes in, outside of delivery and Mayank strikes it to the mid-off region and the skipper comfortably takes it.
MA Agarwal c Sharma b McClenaghan 6 (5b)
In walks the newly appointed RPS skipper Steve Smith. Lot of pressure on him to perform well. Off the mark with a cut shot down square. Out there on the field are the two capatins from the Dharamsala Test. Question is whether they can build on that partnership.
Over 3 | Score 35/0 | Rahane 27* ; Mayank 6*
Southee returns. RPS indeed off to a good start. Short ball, pulled away for a six. Great hit from Rahane. Sailed over fine-leg. And now a four, down the wicket. Cross-seam delivery and topples it over Southee to strike the four. Rahane on fire.
Over 2 | Score 23/0 | Rahane 16* ; Mayank 5*
Hardik Pandya opens up the attack now. And two in a row. Two back-to-back boundaries from Rahane. First down the square and the next of an outside edge past the slip. And then again in the fifth delivery, over mid-off.
Over 1 | Score 8/0 | Ajinkya Rahane 2(4b); Mayank Agarwal 5 (2b)
Tim Southee started the proceedings for Mumbai Indians. Eight runs from the over as Mayank Agarwal hit the second ball of the over for a four, a lucky edge.
Over 20 | Score 184/8 | McClenaghan 0* ; Hardik 35*
Last over for RPS. Dinda starts off. And what a way to begin the final over. Wide delivery and Hardik slices it over the rope for a six. And here comes another. That three in a row from MI. Over midwicket, Hardik goes with all his might. Carnival here at Pune in the last over. Hardik strikes the third six in the over. Fourth ball, another wide delivery, knicks the bat and zips past Dhoni's gloves for a four to third man. What was that! Six, another, from Pandya. He is on fire.
Slight confusion from the two batsman. Southee departs on a run-out. Thought that was the final ball and he went for that run. Comedy of error! Umpire confused as to who is out as Pandya too was out of the crease. Its Southee finally.
TG Southee run out 7 (3b)
Over 19 | Score 154/7 | Southee 7* ; Hardik 7*
Stokes in his final over. That was superb! Pollard hits it hard for a four and Mayank Agarwal makes a wonderful dive to take the catch at long-on. Superb from the Indian. Good wicket to get. Probably the elbow hit made the damage for the West Indian.
KA Pollard c Agarwal b Stokes 27 (17b)
Southee walks in. Down the over, huge six.
Over 18 | Score 145/6 | Pollard 27* ; Hardik 5*
Pollard got some treatment on his elnow after Tahir had mis-thrown the ball at him. Dinda starts off. Risky single from a short down cover. Pollard comes on strike now. They want him to be ther. Just two overs to go, MI will look to carck some boundaries now. Drop catch from MSD. Inside edge and Dhoni fails to clutch it on. Could have got the big man. Last ball, wide and Pollard gets top edge and it flies to the boundary.
Over 17 | Score 137/6 | Pollard 23* ; Hardik 3*
Tahir returns for his final over today. He is 3/18 already. Oh there is a glimpse of his celebration. Did you hear that sound? Cracks it off from Pollard's bat, down the wicket and six.
Over 16 | Score 127/6 | Pollard 14* ; Hardik 1*
Zampa from the pavilion end. Pollard, nic and hard, down the wicket. Zips past Zampa's fingers and Pollar gets a boundary. Pressure on the bowler. And finally the leggie gets a wicket. Low, slightly to the off-side, Rana strikes the googly to the deep-midwicket and Bhatia there to take it this time.
N Rana c Bhatia b Zampa 34 (28b)
Hardik Pandya is the new batsman.
Over 15 | Score 120/5 | Pollard 8* ; Rana 34*
Tahir returns. Pollard very efficiently strikes the spin down the wicket over the leggie and gets a boundary. Second ball, clearly strikes the pad, umpire denies. Thats sad. Dhoni there wants a DRS!
Over 14 | Score 111/5 | Pollard 2* ; Rana 30*
Bhatia comes back, Rana whacks the slow, low ball to the boundary. Stokes somehow makes the save. Bhatia yet again. Middle edge, high in the sky and MSD comfortably takes it. Krunal departs
KH Pandya c Dhoni b Bhatia 3 (5b)
Pollard is the next batsman.
Over 13 | Score 106/4 | Krunal 3* ; Rana 28*
Score looking to reach 150 now, given the current run rate. Stokes comes in. 14.5 crore smashed over the rope by Rana. Six! 100 comes up for Mumbai Indians. Stokes definitely under pressure. Rana looking confident now.
Over 12 | Score 95/4 | Krunal 2* ; Rana 20*
Rajat Bhati. Leg-cutter, slow delivery and Rayudu departs on caught and bowl. Simple yet fascinating from Bhatia.
AT Rayudu c & b Bhatia 10 (12b)
Krunal walks in. Gets off the mark with a single.
Over 11 | Score 92/3 | Rayadu 10* ; Rana 19*
Zampa in his second over. Leg-bye on the first ball. Googly, on the wrong line. Low balls, thats his strategy it seems. Another on the wrong line and Rana does a leg glance. Four from the googly.
Over 10 | Score 82/3 | Rayadu 9* ; Rana 12*
Excellent first session from RPS. MI started of strong, but Imran Tahir was introduced early to take those quick wickets. Momentum completely on RPS' side now. MI needs to build on pressure.
Rajat Bhatia with the ball. Not a pitch absolutely for him though. Single of the first two deliveries. Slow ball, inside out shot from Rayadu, gets a two.
Over 9 | Score 76/3 | Rayadu 5* ; Rana 10*
Another leggie, young Zampa introduced. Can he too turn it like Tahir? Did prove lethal last season. But Rana answers him with a huge six. Of backfoot, strikes the low ball hard to the leg side. Under pressure now, Zampa. MI just need more of those shots to bring back the momentum. Startegic time-out now.
Over 8 | Score 66/3 | Rayadu 3* ; Rana 2*
Stokes comes back. Risky single from Rayadu, Smith misses by an inch. Mumbai Indians in absolute hard water now. Wonder how the dressing room would seem now. Did start of well, but then Tahir-magic did it all. Good over- just three of it.
Over 7 | Score 63/3 | Rayadu 0* ; Rana 1*
Tahir in his second over. Remember, this is the same bowler who went unsold at the auction. Tahir Magic strikes again! Skipper departs this time. Oh god...absolute pandemonium in Pune. Tahir turns it between the pad and bat and it strikes the wicket.
RG Sharma b Imran Tahir 3 (7b)
Tahir on fire! This time gets the danger man Jos Buttler. LBW! SEEMS HE GOT THE THICK INSIDE EDGE.
JC Buttler lbw b Imran Tahir 38 (19b)
Over 6 | Score 61/1 | Buttler 38* ; Rohit 3*
Chahar returns. Rohit slashes it to the third man to get a single. Two dot balls to follow. And then comes a four down the mid-on region. Buttler here again! Six this time, over the cover region. Stunning! Buttler at his best.
Over 5 | Score 48/1 | Buttler 26* ; Rohit 2*
Imran Tahir introduced. Smith seems clueless. First ball and Parthiv sweeps to the leg side for a four. Beauty. Same shot yet again, but ball more towards leg side and turns to rip off the leg stump. And with that Parthiv departs. Was looking restless it seems, played the shot too early. Imaran Tahir, brilliant leg-spin.
Skipper walks in.
PA Patel b Imran Tahir 19 (14b)
Over 4 | Score 41/0 | Buttler 25* ; Parthiv 15*
Ben Stokes! Oh ho! Huge pressure on the English man. Buttler on strike now. England vs England now. Smith of course needs a wicket, thus Stokes coming into the scene. SIX! Beauty from Buttler down the wicket and.. here again. Ravishing! Absolute stunning! Dil Scoop from Buttler to strike a six sky-high over Dhoni
Over 3 | Score 28/0 | Buttler 13* ; Parthiv 14*
Dinda continues. Time for Parthiv perform. Four from the keeper. Crackles it to the boundary over mid-wicket region. Meanwhile, injured offie R Ashwin predicts that it is MSD who will be the man-of-th-match.
Parthiv now strikes it down the wicket and goes for a four. Dinda cant bowl short. Parthiv strikes it hard, in the air and Rajat Bhatia at tghird-man.....drops it.
Over 2 | Score 19/0 | Buttler 13* ; Parthiv 5*
Sloppy fielding had proved quite expensive in the first match for RCB. RPS doesnt want to do that. Deepak Chahar opens up. And bang, from Buttler and it whistles to the boundary down mid-wicket.
Here comes yet another. Four! Down square-leg side. Expensive over.
Over 1 | Score 11/0 | Buttler 5* ; Parthiv 5*
The players are out on the filed all set for match no. 2 at Pune. Sharma is returning after a long, long time. Fans will be expecting some crackling off his bat. Smith, the new captain, will be under the radar for his new role.
Buttler and Parthiv are the two batsmen. Parthiv is at strike while Dinda is the bowler. First ball and goes for a wide. Buttler comes on strike, takes a risky single and...Deepak Chahar donates a four via over-throw. Now Parthiv strikes a boundary down fine-leg.
Some very interesting selections. The two teams accessing this wicket differently. @mipaltan going for pace @RPSupergiants going for spin.
— Michael Clarke (@MClarke23) April 6, 2017
RPS XI: A Rahane, M Agarwal, S Smith, M Tiwary, MS Dhoni, B Stokes, R Bhatia, D Chahar, A Zampa, I Tahir, A Dinda
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 6, 2017
MI XI: RG Sharma, P Patel, A Rayudu, K Pollard, N Rana, J Buttler, H Pandya, K Pandya, M McClenaghan, T Southee, J Bumrah
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 6, 2017
The @mipaltan is all warmed up. Bring it on #IPL pic.twitter.com/BlbtIasxHX
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 6, 2017
Getting into the groove - @RPSupergiants #IPL pic.twitter.com/GNmIrjzVyP
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 6, 2017
Rohit Sharma- "Happy to be back. We all are determined to change things around. Going with six batsmen today."
Ready for the toss- RPS won the toss and elects to field. "First game of the season, want to start off with bowling first"- Steve Smith
MI pacer, Mitchell Johnson – Great to be back over- looking forward to it- hoping for a same journey as last time
Here's how the pitch is looking for @RPSupergiants vs @mipaltan match #IPL pic.twitter.com/IhPOh6yiQW
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 6, 2017
RPS' new skipper Steve Smith makes his way to the stage. And MI skipper Rohit Sharma also enters the stadium.
Play Hard, Play Fair - Spirit of Cricket at #IPL - @stevesmith49 and @ImRo45 pic.twitter.com/UwPVL8CYih
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 6, 2017
Enters singer Shalmali Kholgade entertaining the crowd with a few of her Bollywood numbers.
Welcome to Match Day 2 between RPS and MI- we start off with a short opening ceremony at Maharashtra Cricket International Stadium, Pune - a cultural show put on
We are in Pune today for @RPSupergiants vs. @mipaltan. Match starts at 8 PM IST #IPL pic.twitter.com/evncMJFLRQ
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 6, 2017
New Delhi: The 2017 edition of Indian Premier League (IPL) started with Yuvraj Singh playing the lead role in the season opener for defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad against last year's finalists Royal Challengers Bangalore yesterday.
The 35-run win for the David Warner-led outfit had all the parts of becoming a classic. But what the match needed was a lead actor from the losing side. Yes, a Virat Kohli presence would have made the match a real classic.
But today, on day 2 of the competition, cricket fans can expect an even contest between Steve Smith's Rising Pune Supergiant and Rohit Sharma's Mumbai Indians.
With Mahendra Singh Dhoni not leading the Pune-based team, Smith will have an extra job of satisfying both critics and fans. A bad day in office for the Aussie will spell doom for his fledging captaincy reign in the world's most watched cricket league, where fans waste little time to fry any misgiving, specially towards their revered superstars.
And Dhoni is a demigod.
Besides the Dhoni factor, the home side will have all the focus when they unveil IPL 10's costliest buy, Ben Stokes. He can bowl and bat, and also produce moments of inspiration in the field. What if he fails to turn up, in any of the departments. That's the worry for the them. And that's also one grey area every big ensemble needs to mask with steady team performance.
Mumbai too have enough superstars. The skipper, Kieron Pollard, Jos Buttler, and the Pandyas are already established names in the IPL world.
So, unlike yesterday's match, today's encounter in Pune will be a classic, where the protagonists from either camp are expected to take the centre stage.
Here's everything you need to know about the match:
Likely playing XIs
Rising Pune Supergiant: Ajinkya Rahane, Mayank Agarwal, Faf du Plessis, Steven Smith (C), Ben Stokes, MS Dhoni (wk), Rajat Bhatia, Jaydev Unadkat, Ankit Sharma, Ashok Dinda, Adam Zampa
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (C), Parthiv Patel (wk), Ambati Rayudu, Jos Buttler, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Harbhajan Singh, Mitchell McClenaghan, Jasprit Bumrah, Tim Southee
When and where to watch the match:
Date & Time: April 6 (Thursday) at 20:00 IST
Venue: Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune
TV Listing: Sony Six, Sony Six HD, Sony ESPN, Sony ESPN HD and SET MAX.
Online Streaming: Sony LIV.
