As Mexican wave has become an excitable medium for cricket, in the same way, Mahendra Singh Dhoni is for his fans and above all to the gentleman’s game of cricket.
Interestingly, Dhoni has smashed 34-ball unbeaten 61 runs which also was his grand total of runs, he scored in first five games for Supergiant. There is always a reason we’ve super matches when players like Dhoni step on the field.
Dhoni, who is known as one of the best finishers, held his nerve before smoking the ball on the off-side for a boundary in a deep extra cover region when they required two runs on the final delivery of the second innings.
At the other end, Manoj Tiwary scored 17* off eight balls to win the match number 24 by six wickets while putting up 58 runs for the fifth wicket.
The remarkable show from Dhoni with the bat has not only entertained the fans but has brought a much-needed win for his side Rising Pune Supergiant who was languishing at the bottom of the table.
Had you watched, the placards read: ‘We’re here for Mahendra Singh Dhoni as it doesn’t matter whether Pune Supergiant win or loose’ this shows how Dhoni has learned the art of holding the nerve, in crunch situations of the game after becoming the crowd favourite with his splendid performances.
It becomes pertinent that Dhoni was put down in the 18th over, on the bowling of Mohammad Siraj by Bhuvneshwar Kumar inside the thirty-yard circle when he got fingertips to the ball before grasping the opportunity.
The go-to bowler for Sunrisers, Bhuvneshwar, who is also the purple cap holder, did the trick again while dismissing Ben Stokes in 17th over when he tried to clear the boundary on the on-side before leaking 19 runs.
Stokes, who scored 10 off nine balls, was caught by substitute Vijay Shankar at the deep mid-wicket region,
Adventurous in his style, Rahul Tripathi brought up his maiden IPL fifty after playing some finest of the strokes, as the other end was equally settled by Rising Pune Supergiant skipper Steven Smith before he found the under-edge of the angled bat that bounced on his pad before dislodging the off stump zing bail.
Rashid Khan, who has been a revelation with the ball, has pulled a sensational run when Rahul Tripathi was going all guns blazing against Sunrisers bowlers.
Tripathi returned to the pavilion after scoring 41-ball 59 which was laced with six boundaries and three sixes.
Rashid Khan kept things under control, as he finished his quota of four over while conceding 17 runs for a wicket.
In 11th over, Rashid Khan bamboozled Smith with a googly. The right-handed batsman Smith scored 27 off 21 balls and looked livid with himself while trudging off the ground. Interestingly, there were some Afghanistan fans in the crowd, who looked jubilant for Rashid.
In the fifth over, Bipul Sharma grassed an opportunity on the bowling of Mohammad Siraj when latter put down opener Rahul Tripathi at the square leg region after the ball found the top edge of the willow.
Coming to chase down the target of 177, the hosts lost their first wicket in the form of Ajinkya Rahane (2 off 7 balls), who come down the track to find Siddarth Kaul completing a simple catch on the bowling of left-arm orthodox spinner Bipul Sharma, who was inducted in the place of unwell Yuvraj Singh.
After winning the toss, Steven Smith-led Rising Pune Supergiant opted to field first after coming from a win by 27 runs against Royal Challengers Bangalore before taking a brief break to return in their sixth game of the tenth edition of Indian Premier League season against Sunrisers Hyderabad led by David Warner.
While coming to bat first, the star-studded batting line-up posted 176 on the board following the loss of three wickets in 20 allotted overs.
It was the all-rounders for Sunrisers, in the form of Moises Henriques and Deepak Hooda, who knitted 47-run partnership for the fourth wicket. Henriques scored 28-ball unbeaten 55 to register his third half-century of this season. Hooda smashed 19 off 10 balls which included two fours and a six to provide late blitz.
Earlier, Supergiant bowlers contained the star-studded batting line-up in the first-half of the Sunrisers innings, before leaking crucial runs, in the death overs which has been their problem. The visitors posted 65 runs in their first ten overs before racking up another 111 runs in next 10 overs.
The two left-handed batsmen in the form of skipper David Warner and Shikhar Dhawan gave a perfect start to Sunrisers, but they were slower starters given to the range of shots both have to unleash against any of the best bowling line-ups.
Warner and Dhawan posted 55 runs for the first wicket before Dhawan was caught by Rahul Tripathi (30 off 29 balls) on the bowling of Imran Tahir.
For Rising Pune Supergiant, Dan Christian was economical with the ball. Christian picked a wicket after conceding 20 runs in his four overs.
Leg-spinner Imran Tahir claimed a wicket while sending down only three overs.
The left-arm fast bowler Jaydev Unadkat gave away 41 runs to claim the wicket of David Warner.
In 13th over, Kane Williamson, who has been a star for Sunrisers against Delhi Daredevils, was caught in front of the stumps by Dan Christian.
The right-handed batsman Williamson scored 21 off 14 balls which included one boundary and a six respectively.
Warner scored 43 off 40 balls after he was dropped by Steven Smith on the bowling of Ben Stokes when the latter was batting on 26.
The left-handed pocket-sized dynamo Warner was cleaned up by Jaydev Unadkat when skipper tried to play the reserve shot in 17th over which further read the Sunrisers score as 129 for three.