Rising Pune Supergiants have lost 4 matches on the trot and more than that Mahendra Singh Dhoni has lost 4 consecutive matches in IPL for the first time. While he captained CSK, the team never lost more than 3 consecutive matches. Sunrisers Hyderabad have been riding on the form of David Warner and Shikhar Dhawan so far, thanks to which they have won 3 of their 5 games.
The pressure was mounting on the most successful captain of IPL to pick up his team. Dhoni won the toss and immediately chose to field. This would have relieved him in a pressure match. Dhoni backed Ashok Dinda this match and once again his move was proved to be right. Dinda got the in-form Warner out for a duck in the first over itself. As a result, SRH scored only 27 runs in the powerplay at the loss of 3 wickets. Soon the team was reduced to 5 for 32 in the 9th over. Shikhar Dhawan and Naman Ojha steadied the innings and a quick fire 21 from Bhuvneshwar Kumar took the team to a decent total of 118 in 20 overs
If Pune got Warner on the 4th ball, Bhuvneshwar got Rahane out on the 5th ball for a duck. But Faf du Plessis and Steve Smith took command from there on took the team into a comfortable situation for a win. However, the match was interrupted due to rain and Supergiants won by D/L method.
Here are some interesting numbers and stats from this match –
Rain Arrives – This was the first match to be delayed due to rain in IPL 2016. The delay wouldn’t have hurt the fans much as the heat was pounding in Hyderabad.
Warner fails batting 1st – Off the 6 innings Warner has batted in IPL 2016, he has scored 4 fifties and all four have come while chasing. Twice he has failed and both while batting first.
Lowest Powerplay Score – SRH scored 27 for 3 in the first 6 overs. This is the lowest score in IPL 2016 in the powerplays. Previous lowest was 28 by Delhi Daredevils.
Second Best for Dinda – Ashok Dinda played his first match this season and picked up 3 wickets by giving away 23 runs. This is his 2nd best bowling performance in IPL. His best performance has also come for Pune but that was Pune Warriors India, he picked up 4/17 against Mumbai Indians in IPL 2012.
Openers out for a duck – The batsman who took strike for both the teams got out for a duck. David Warner for SRH and Ajinkya Rahane for RPS. In the history of IPL, this is the first ever time that this event has occurred.