IPL 10: Match 24, Who Said What: Rising Pune Supergiant v Sunrisers Hyderabad

Sunrisers Hyderabad looked to continue their dominance in the IPL outside Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium. They faced off against the Rising Pune Supergiant in their own backyard. The SRH openers started off the innings on a steady note, after Steve Smith won the toss and opted to field first. Every batsman in the Hyderabad batting line-up got off to starts but could not go on to make a substantial score, except Moises Henriques who scored a lightning 28-ball 55 at a strike rate of 196. He scored two maximums and six boundaries in the process. David Warner retained the orange cap with his innings of 43. SRH posted a competitive total of 176 at the end of their innings.

RPS reply started off with the slight hiccup with the wicket of Rahane. Their innings was brought into some kind of stability by Tripathi and Smith. Tripathi scored a significant inning with his 59 off 41 balls. However, the turning point of the match arrived after the wicket of Stokes. Dhoni and Tiwary, two of the warhorses of Indian Cricket, stood up for the RPSG side with 47 needing off 21 balls. They snatched a victory from the jaws of defeat, thanks to a trademark Dhoni finish. He hit a 34-ball 61, laced with five fours and three flat sixes at a strike rate of 180. Manoj Tiwary too supported his captain with his 17 runs cameo, at a strike rate of 212.5. Dhoni was awarded the man of the match for his customary finishing innings.

With 30 required off last two overs, Dhoni knocked off 19 runs of the purple cap holder Bhuvaneshwar Kumar’s over and finished with a boundary as RPSG needed 2 off the last ball of the match. Dhoni was awarded the man of the match for his customary finishing innings.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni

Dhoni seemed relieved after coming back into his hitting ways in the IPL. He commended the efforts of Rashid Khan who bowled brilliantly for his 1-17. He also stated that Manoj Tiwary played a crucial knock which changed the course of the match. He also went ahead to state that such chase does not happen every day.

It was a difficult one but it was important that, since we had strikers towards the end, that we take Rashid out of the game. That was his last over. It’s not a pretty big ground, and there was a pretty strong breeze. That was the plan. It was slightly above average, the run rate. You can’t always pull it off. Manoj’s contribution was very important. In modern day cricket, there’s no run rate that’s high. It boils down to how the opposition bowlers execute. It’s about who handles the nerves well. Overall I feel that last four overs you can get close to 60 runs provided the opposition plays badly and you play well.

Steve Smith

RPSG captain confirmed that he had his heart in his mouth during the last couple of overs in the match much like the other witnessing the match. Smith hailed the great MSD by saying that he did today what he’s best at. He also lauded the efforts of Henriques, Hooda and young Tripathi. Smith concluded by saying that he hopes the team notched up wins in the upcoming matches to progress to the top of the table.

Got pretty close towards the end there. MS did what he’s done for such a long period of time. When he’s under pressure, he comes through more often than not. Probably thought it was a 160-165 wicket. We probably didn’t execute our plans as well as we would have liked. Moises and Hooda played well too. Tripathi was very good at the top there. These are big five games for us. If we can keep playing like that, and climb up the ladder it will be nice.

RPS make a giant leap into the 4th spot of the IPL Points table with six points below Sunrisers Hyderabad who stand firm in the third position with 8 points.