Rising Pune Supergiants (126-1) d. Mumbai Indians (121-8) by 9 wickets with 32 balls remaining
Ajinkya Rahane scored a crisp 66 off 42 balls on Saturday and led newcomers Rising Pune Supergiants to an Indian Premier League season-opening win over defending champions Mumbai Indians.
India opener Rahane knocked three sixes and seven boundaries as Pune, one of two new teams to replace the suspended Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals, won easily, with 38 balls and nine wickets remaining.
The 27-year-old from Maharashtra smacked at a high ball for an exclamatory six over third man to finalise the victory.
Mumbai had not set an especially imposing total for the Supergiants to chase, with Harbhajan Singh top-scoring at 45 as the Indians, batting first, went 121-8. Ambati Rayudu added a sluggish 27-ball 22, with only Vinay Kumar (12) also in double figures for the Indians.
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World Twenty20 winners Lendl Simmons (8) and Kieron Pollard (1), Rohit Sharma (7) and England wicketkeeper Jos Buttler, with a duck, all disappointed for Mumbai.
The full Pune bowling attack impressed, in particular 36-year-old medium-fast Delhi bowler Rajat Bhatia confounding the Indians with a wicket (Pollard lbw) for just 10 runs in four overs.
Ishant Sharma, bowling out Simmons and Rohit Sharma lbw, contributed an important two wickets that spurred a 40 for five top-order Mumbai collapse. Australia’s Mitchell Marsh took the wickets of Hardik Pandya (caught by MS Dhoni) and Buttler (caught by Ravichandran Ashwin) as well, and RP Singh, Ashwin and Murugan Ashwin each also took a wicket.
Rahane and South Africa’s Faf du Plessis put on a 78-run partnership on the opening wicket in response, before Du Plessis was bowled out by Harbhajan for 34 after a 33-ball innings. Kevin Pietersen then joined Rahane and put on 21 runs off 14 balls as they cruised to victory.
India’s rising star Pandya, 22, bowled only the final over, getting hit hard for 12 runs in four balls. Another 22-year-old fast-rising name in the India attack mix, Jasprit Bumrah, leaked 30 runs in three overs for Mumbai, as well.
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