Their tournament might be well over, but the Rising Pune Supergiants finally saved some grace after a win over the Delhi Daredevils in Vizag. Due to their loss, the Daredevils now need to win both their games, one of which is against an unstoppable unit of the Royal Challengers Bangalore. In Vizag though, rain played spoilsport and dampened a few spirits for sure.
Opting to bowl first, the Rising Pune Supergiants bowlers were on the money. Ashok Dinda was once again fantastic with the new ball as he struck early for the Supergiants. Dinda displayed great control in his spell and his 3 wickets had a massive bearing on the outcome. Leg spinner Adam Zampa too showcased his class with a 3 wicket haul. Needing just 122 to win, Pune were 76-1 in 11 overs, when the game was called off due to rain. Nevertheless, they won the game by 19 runs on the count of the D/L method.
MS Dhoni was pretty satisfied with the win as he praised his unit. “The fast bowlers also bowled well and gave a platform from where spinners could put pressure on the opposition. This is something we were lacking. It’s good to see them bowl as a unit together. If luck is not in your favor in a game like this, you could be left having to lose 4-5 overs and chase 10-15 more runs. There’s no real point taking any extra pressure. You want to bowl according to your strengths. Even if the batsman hits you for big sixes, it shouldn’t matter because you are executing your plans well and that’s what matters,” said Dhoni.
Admitting that bowling was his side’s actual woe, Dhoni added, “We knew bowling was the depth where we could face a challenge. If you see a number of bowlers in our squad, there are quite a few bowlers. We were quite worried as to who is our best bowling option and whether he can come back at the death. Someone like a Chahar, we wanted to play with him initially, but one day before the tournament he got injured. Then Rajat played and he was our best bowler if you look at it. How we look at the next game is to give a chance to some bowlers,” said Dhoni.