Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma's comeback to form with a half century was spoiled by sheer brilliance with the ball from Ben Stokes and Jaydev Unadkat as Rising Pune Supergiant roped home by three runs in an Indian Premier League (IPL) 2017 match here on Monday.
Chasing a decent 161, Mumbai banked on Rohit's 33-ball half century after the opening duo of Parthiv Patel (33) and Jos Buttler (17) added 35 runs. With 24 needed off 12 balls, Mumbai had their hopes clinging on Rohit but a brilliant penultimate over from Stokes left the home side needing 17 off the final over.
Left-armer Unadkat did well to dismiss Hardik Pandya (13) off the first ball of the final over with Stokes latching on to a super catch and by the time the game reached the third-last ball of the day, the Mumbai captain had lost his composure, arguing with the umpire when he didn't signal a wide.
Off the next ball, Rohit was walking back to the pavilion, playing wild heave to be caught and bowled by Unadkat. Harbhajan Singh did smash a six off the last ball, but it was not enough as Mumbai finished at 157/8 to lose by three runs.
Earlier, the visitors rode on openers Ajinkya Rahane (38) and Rahul Tripathi (45) to post 160/6 in their stipulated 20 overs. Both the openers started off on a good note, slamming more than 70 runs in 10 overs. Rahane and Tripathi forged a 76-run partnership with a healthy 8.00 run rate. But just when things seemed going good for the visitors, leg-spinner Karn Sharma provided a much needed breakthrough for the Mumbai Indians in form of Rahane's wicket.
Incoming batsman Steve Smith (17) then joined Tripathi and added 17 runs for the second wicket, but Tripathi was sent packing in the 12th over by Karn. His 31-ball knock was laced with three boundaries and two sixes. Skipper Smith was also back to the pavilion in the next over thanks to veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, which reduced Pune to 104/3. Smith played 12 balls and hit two boundaries.
Middle-order batsmen Mahendra Singh Dhoni (7) and Ben Stokes (17) then added 22 runs in 3.1 overs before the England batsman was dismissed by pacer Mitchell Johnson in the 17th over. With the scoreboard reading 138/5 in 18 overs, Manoj Tiwary (22) and Daniel Christian (8) shifted gears, with the Bengal right-hander smashing back to back fours in the last over before being adjudged leg before wicket in the fourth ball of the final over.
Brief Scores: Rising Pune Supergiant 160/6 (Rahul Tripathi 45, Ajinkya Rahane 38, Jasprit Bumrah 2/29) beat Mumbai Indians 157/8 (Rohit Sharma 58, Parthiv Patel 33, Ben Stokes 2/21, Jaydev Unadkat 2/40) by 3 runs.
--IANS
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