IPL 10: Match 2, Who Said What: Rising Pune Supergiant vs Mumbai Indians

Pune crowd witnessed a last over thriller in the IPL as the Rising Pune Supergiant clinched a victory against Mumbai Indians by 7 wickets. The match started with early fireworks from Parthiv Patel and Jos Buttler after being put into bat by the RPS skipper Steve Smith.

However, the rampage stopped after Imran Tahir decimated the top order of Mumbai Indians by picking three crucial wickets upfront. Nitish Rana, who raised a few eyebrows due to his selection, stabilized the Mumbai’s innings by playing a crucial knock of 34 in 28 balls. The highlight of the innings arrived after Pandya took a guard in the crease. He played one of the best innings of his life by scoring an explosive 35* off 15; 28 of them came in the last over off Dinda. Pandya’s innings propelled Mumbai to an unlikely score of 184.

While chasing the score set by Mumbai Indians, RPSG’s innings started off with an important partnership between Smith and Rahane. Things became a little difficult for the home team after the dismissal of Rahane who departed after a brisk 60 off 34 balls. Needing 14 runs off the last over, Smith steered his team to a victory after hitting two massive sixes in the last two balls of the Pollard’s over. He was adjudged as the man of the match for his 84 off 54 which comprised of 3 crucial sixes and 7 fours.

It seems Smith absolutely thrives on every opportunity to bat on this ground. Following his match-winning century in the second innings of the First Test in the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar test series, Smith played another peach of an innings on this ground to ensure a victory for his team. He cited that form is transferable in spite of the format and one should utilize every inch of it. The Aussie also hailed Pandya and Tahir for their incredible contribution in the match.

“It’s a nice place to bat here in Pune. Fortunate to get over the line, it got really close. It was nice to hit a couple of sixes to win the game. It was one of those wickets where the ball was hard to time early in the innings. Form is form anywhere I guess. You have to make the most of it. Magnificent (talking about Tahir). Probably called on him a bit earlier than I would have liked. That was magnificent striking from Pandya. I think 180 was a par score on that wicket, said Steve Smith.

According to Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma, the RPSG’s team took the game away due to the sensational knock from his counterpart. He also disclosed the reason for picking up McClenaghan over Johnson. Rohit also mentioned that the Mumbai Indians will definitely come back with a better performance in the upcoming matches.

“They won that (than we losing that). Smith batted really well and he continued from where he left. We had to get him out early. It is the first game and we have to learn from this. Both (McClenaghan and Johnson) bring similar things to the table but McClenaghan has done well for us in the last couple of years. Johnson is also bowling well and we will bring him in some time later in the tournament. First game for him (Mahela) and not a great start. But we have a great squad and we will bounce back,” said Rohit Sharma.