We have had so many fabulous matches so far in the IPL 2017 it has been a rollercoaster. It has been thrilling to see all the matches. All the teams have been giving it 100% in match and all the matches have kept the audiences on the edge of their seats.
This was another great game, from the get go Rahane and Tripathi gave a fantastic start for the Rising Pune Supergiants and they built a solid partnership to lay down the foundation for a good total for Rising Pune Supergiants.
Rahane and Tripathi both scored 38 and 45 respectively, after that the Rising Pune Supergiants innings began to falter, with the captain Smith and Dhoni departing early. So this hindered the Rising Pune Supergiants total in the end as if Dhoni and Smith had stayed around they would have made it rain in sixes and fours this is where Mumbai Indians found themselves in control of the game.
Stokes added to Supergiants total with his contribution of 17 runs of 12 balls. Supergiants ended on a score of 160 runs. Now it was Mumbai Indians turn to bat their own opening duo had a good start but soon Patel and Buttler departed, it was the captain Rohit Sharma who really played a good innings for his team.
Once again wickets toppled, and Supergiants were in control of the match, but Rohit Sharma had other plans, he kept on making sure the score board was ticking over he departed after just making his half century and was out on 58 runs. It came down to Mumbai Indians needing 17 runs of 6 balls. It was a very close game, Ben Stokes had a bowled a wonderful 19th over and now it was up to Unadkat to seal the victory for the Supergiants, and he managed to hold his nerve. Supergiants had won the match by 3 runs so it was a very close match thus ending Mumbai Indians winning streak once and for all in this IPL 2017.
Post match presentation (credit cricinfo.com)
It ultimately boiled down to Mumbai needing 17 off the last six balls. Unadkat, picked ahead of Thakur and Christian to bowl the final over, removed Hardik off the first ball. Three balls later he dismissed Rohit to shut Mumbai out. Pune move to fourth with their third successive win.
“It is disappointing after being so close,” Rohit says. I thought we tried our best, gave everything we could, but it was disappointing not to finish the game. I don’t want to be too critical of our performance. We lost wickets in the middle, and that was the mistake on the part of us. Overall, it was a great game. The pitch was a little dry and was assisting the spinners. Our spinners did the job pretty well, you need to understand the pace you have to bowl at the Wankhede. We have been playing good cricket. We have to forget what happened tonight and move on. It was good to get some runs, but disappointing not to finish the match. Jaydev bowled a great last over. It takes a lot of courage; he got a wicket in the first ball, which is always critical. Needing 17, you can’t lose a wicket off the first ball.
“I thought we scrapped really well in the end,” Smith says. “Stoksy in the second half was excellent, Unadkat got us over the line. The dew was not too bad. We thought it would be worse, we held together, and the wicket played the same for the 40 overs. It was not a traditional Wankhede wicket. 160 was probably around par, and tonight we were able to take wickets in the middle and keep the pressure on. Unadkat went wide of the crease and bowled a hard length.”
“Another solid team performance. Did not get off to the best of starts, but we are putting in the performances,” Stokes, the Man of the Match, says. The slower balls are coming on nicely. The pitches have been conductive to the slower-paced deliveries. I am absolutely loving it. This is my first experience. Pretty thankful to be playing here.”