Dhoni made his 17th IPL fifty
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s love affair with heart-racing finishes continued on Saturday as he smashed a boundary off the last ball of the match to lead the Rising Pune Supergiants to a six-wicket win over the Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Supergiants captain Steve Smith would have been brooding over his decision to bowl first as the Sunrisers Hyderabad got off to a good start courtesy of a 55-run partnership between skipper David Warner and Shikhar Dhawan.
Dhawan ended up falling to Imran Tahir for 30, while Kane Williamson managed to make 21 before being trapped lbw off the bowling of Dan Christian.
Warner, meanwhile, surprised quite a few people by playing a more measured innings as he made 43 off 40 balls, which included three boundaries and a six, before being clean bowled by Jaydev Unadkat.
Despite losing Warner, the Sunrisers concluded their innings on a high as Moises Henriques and Deepak Hooda amassed an unbeaten 47-run partnership, during which Henriques brought up his half-century.
Henriques finished on 55 off 28 balls, which included six boundaries and two sixes, while Hooda remained undefeated on 19 off 10 deliveries, which included two boundaries and a six, as the Sunrisers concluded their innings on 176/3.
Henriques’ fifth IPL fifty went in vain
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
Tahir, Christian and Unadkat picked up one wicket apiece.
Chasing 177 to win, the Supergiants did not get off to the best of starts as opener Ajinkya Rahane was dismissed by Bipul Sharma for just two runs.
Smith and Rahul Tripathi made up for the early loss of Rahane with a 72-run partnership, during which Tripathi surpassed his fifty, before Smith was clean bowled by Rashid Khan for 27.
Tripathi wasn’t able to make the most of his half-century as he was run out by Rashid for 59 off 41 balls, which included six boundaries and three sixes.
Tripathi scored his maiden IPL fifty
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
Even though Ben Stokes fell shortly after, Dhoni and Manoj Tiwary kept them in the hunt going into the death overs.
With the scoreboard ticking along and Dhoni looking in ominous form, the Supergiants began to inch ever closer to victory.
Heading into the last over, the Supergiants needed 11 to win and were showered with good fortune on the first ball as Tiwary was dropped by Rashid at the boundary. To make matters worse, the ball trickled over the rope to bring the Supergiants four runs closer to winning the match.
Siddarth Kaul only conceded five runs off the next four balls, which left the Supergiants needing two runs for victory off the final over.
Living up to his nickname of Captain Cool, Dhoni powered the final ball of the match through the covers for a boundary to lead his side to a thrilling win.
Dhoni ended the match on 61 not out, which came off 34 balls and included five boundaries and three sixes.
Rashid, Bipul and Bhuvneshwar Kumar claimed one wicket each.
Dhoni was named Man of the Match.