IPL 9 Match 22nd Review: RPSG back on the victory path

Rising Pune Supergiants (RPSG) put on a dominating show to get back on to winning ways after they registered a comprehensive win over the below-par Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).

Sunrisers Hyderabad, after being put into bat, could only muster 118/8 in their quota of 20 overs with the help of a calm half-century from Shikhar Dhawan.

In reply, Steven Smith and Faf du Plessis ensured a smooth sailing before rain interrupted and eventually forced the game to stop. RPSG, who were at 94/3 at that moment, were quite ahead of the DL score. The game had a clear winner in sight. Eventually, RPSG won the match by 34 runs via D/L method after both the skippers shook hands and agreed to end the game.

Rising Pune Supergiants had not exactly lived up to their name in the tournament so far. They began their campaign with a win but then went on losing spree with four losses in a row. MS Dhoni had never experienced such kind of situation in his career where his team had no idea about how to win games.

The Sunrisers Hyderabad, on the other hand, had resurged in the tournament wonderfully with three back to back to back wins after a shaky start. However, today was a different day altogether for both the teams. RPSG rose to their potential while Sunrisers fell flat on their nose.

MS Dhoni’s decision to bring in Ashoke Dinda paid off rich dividends as the Bengal fast bowler returned with figures of 3/23. Dinda opened the bowling for his team and snapped David Warner off the 4th ball of the match to stun the SRH dugout. Warner had a rare failure today. This was his first duck in 29 IPL innings.

The frail looking SRH batting order then crumbled badly after the departure of the batsman on whom they have been dependent in the tournament till now. Dinda came back in his following over to send Aditya Tare back in the dugout in the 5 over of the match. The fast bowler ended with 2/7 after his first spell.

All-rounder Mitchell Marsh and offie Ravichandran Ashwin then pressed their dominance on the opposition. Eoin Morgan was dismissed for a duck in the following over by Marsh. MS Dhoni showed a brilliant presence of mind to take a diving catch off Ravi Ashwin’s bowling to dismiss Deepak Hooda. Henriques’ stay at the crease was also cut short after he became Marsh’s second victim.

While all these wickets kept falling at one end, opener Dhawan kept tapping runs at a brisk pace from the other end and kept the scoreboard moving. Naman Ojha (18 from 21 balls) played small supportive knock and stood in the middle with Dhawan for more 8.3 overs before falling in the 17th over.

The SRH side were still struggling to reach near the 100 run mark. But, Bhuvneshwar Kumar (21 from 8 balls) then played a blistering cameo and took SRH to a rather satisfying total.

The target on the board was an easy one but the pitch looked to be very helpful for the bowlers. Coming into the chase, RPSG were handed early setback after the in-form Ajinkya Rahane was dismissed in the first over by Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

However, Steven Smith and Faf du Plessis the batted beautifully and did not give any further chance to the opposition. Both batted aggressively and put on an 80 run stand before Du Plessis lost his wicket in the 10th overs.

MS Dhoni then joined the free-flowing Smith with an intention of wrapping the match early. However, Dhoni could not finish the game as intended as he lost his wicket couple of overs later. Rains began to pour again and halted the play just when Dhoni began to walk back to the dugout and eventually forced a result via D/L rule.

Brief Scores: 

Sunrisers Hyderabad: 118/8 in 20 overs (Shikhar Dhawan 56; A Dinda 3/23)

Rising Pune Supergiants: 94/3 in 11 overs (Steven Smith 46; Moises Henriques 1/16)

Man of the Match: Ashoke Dinda