IPL 9, Match 33 Review: Pune end their drought with a win over DD

Delhi Daredevils and Rising Pune Supergiants made multiple changes at the Feroz Shah Kotla as the visiting captain MS Dhoni opted to bowl against the home side. The decision proved right as his team first restricted the hosts to 162/7 and later overhauled the target with 5 balls to spare. Supergiants’ changes were all Australian as they included the two latest additions to their squad – Usman Khawaja and George Bailey – for Peter Handscomb and the injured Steven Smith. Dhoni said his choice to bowl was because his side had not been able to defend scores well so far.

Pune were not alone to be struck by injuries. Daredevils’ regular captain Zaheer Khan had to sit out because of a niggle and JP Duminy turned up for the toss instead. The hosts made four changes overall to include Pawan Negi, Carlos Brathwaite, Jayant Yadav and Imran Tahir to play a spin-heavy attack. They excluded Quinton de Kock, who scored 46 in their last match, Chris Morris and Shahbaz Nadeem, who had bowled well in the previous match.

Rishab Pant (2) couldn’t continue his good form and was cleaned up by Ashok Dinda in the 3rd over attempting a big heave across the line. Sanju Samson (20 off 17) and Karun Nair (32 off 23) batted well with the latter striking some elegant boundaries on the off-side. Their stand was broken by Scott Boland (2/31) who removed Samson off the last ball of the 6th over with the score on 48. Thisara Perera took a fine catch in the deep that accounted for the wicket of Nair off the bowling of Rajat Bhatia (2/22).

Sam Billings (24 off 15) looked in ominous mood smashing 2 sixes and 1 four, however, his and the wicket of Brathwaite (20 off 8) ultimately reduced the damage for the visitor. The West Indian smashed 3 sixes, however, a slower bouncer from Boland brought about his downfall while the Englishman was also out caught off the bowling of Bhatia. Skipper Duminy’s 34 off 32 and Pawan Negi’s unbeaten 19 off 12 gave the score some respectability.

Ajinkya Rahane’s unbeaten 63 off 48 that featured 7 fours was a primary reason for a win for the Pune side, however there were other important contributions as well. Khawaja hit 2 fours and 1 six in his knock of 30 off 27 that was ended by Amit Mishra (1/28) in the 9th over with the score on 59. Imran Tahir (2/26) took the wickets of Saurabh Tiwary (21 off 18) and Dhoni (27 off 20) courtesy two superb catches by Billings in the deep that kept the home side in the game however a miserable spell of 50 off 3.1 overs by Mohammad Shami proved costly for DD. This included a massive 18th over that tilted the game in Pune’s favour. Perera’s unbeaten 14 off 5 included 2 sixes off Tahir in the penultimate over that effectively sealed the match for the visitors. Jayant Yadav looked good for DD in his spell of 0/25 bowling tight lines.

Brief Scores:

Delhi Daredevils: 162/7 in 20 overs (JP Duminy 34; R Bhatia 2/22)

Rising Pune Supergiants: 166/3 in 19.1 overs (A Rahane 63; I Tahir 2/26)

Man of the Match: Ajinkya Rahane (Rising Pune Supergiants)

How did Twitter react during the game? – Twitter Reactions: RPS manage a comfortable win over DD