Pune seamer’s efforts at death overs end MI’s winning streak; Rohit’s 58 in vain; RPS win by 3 runs
If there's one thing that T20 cricket teaches, it's that a team can have a mediocre day at work, but one man's brilliance can win them the game.
The team on Monday was Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS), and that one man was IPL's costliest buy, Ben Stokes. In one of the smartest shows of death bowling, Stokes snatched away victory from Mumbai Indians' (MI) hands at the Wankhede here.
Chasing 161, MI needed 24 off the last two overs with an on-song Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya at the crease. But Stokes threw in a variety of yorkers, slower ones and good length balls to give away just seven runs off that penultimate over to leave MI 17 to get in the final over.
That became too much for MI, despite Rohit hitting a six off the second ball after Pandya walked back, also due Stokes's brilliance in the outfield. Jayadev Unadkat bowled a controversial dot ball that could've been a wide and then got Rohit out to seal the deal for RPS with a nervy three-run win.
MI must be kicking themselves in the dressing room, wondering how they messed up a fairly easy chase. Parthiv Patel and Jos Buttler gave MI another solid base, putting together 31 in four overs. Stokes came into the attack, and immediately got his fellow Englishman caught at long on with a slower one.
Nitish Rana tasted a rare failure, and Patel failed to convert yet another start, being cleaned up by offie Washington Sundar's quicker one.
At 60/3 in nine overs, MI were gasping, but Rohit decided to counter against RPS' biggest strength and his perceived biggest weakness, Imran Tahir's leg-spinners. There were scoops, slogs as well as clean strikes coming off Rohit's bat as the skipper's frequent boundaries kept MI abreast with the required run rate that was touching 10.
That was until the penultimate over, when Stokes turned the game upside down.
Earlier, RPS openers Ajinkya Rahane and Rahul Tripathi walked out with the intention of negating the toss factor, the duo adding 48 in the powerplay.
But the MI spinners ensured that RPS' breezy start didn't turn into a storm, with Karn and Harbhajan Singh not only keeping the two firing openers in check but also starting to make cracks on the RPS wall.
Karn sent back both the openers in consecutive overs, while a charged-up Bhajji – who had dropped Smith on eight – getting his man for 17 in the next over.
RPS were 104/3 in 13 overs at that point, needing a MS Dhoni or Ben Stokes special. Neither of the specials was served, with both the dangerous batsmen departing for seven and 17, respectively. If not for Manoj Tiwary's 13-ball 22, RPS would've struggled even to reach their total of 160/6.
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