Delhi Daredevils 162/7 (20/20 ov)
Rising Pune Supergiants 166/3 (19.1/20 ov)
Rising Pune Supergiants won by 7 wickets (with 5 balls remaining)
A solid innings from Ajinkya Rahane helped Rising Pune Supergiants dent Delhi Daredevils’ hopes of making the play-offs at Feroz Shah Kotla and kick-start their own faltering Indian Premier League campaign.
Delhi were put in to bat, and lost wickets at regular intervals to post 162 for 7, which Pune chased down in the final over to win by seven wickets.
JP Duminy and Karun Nair looked like putting on a tougher target, but Nair went on 32 when Thisara Perera made a fine catch and Duminy was run out on 34.
Rahane lead the chase from the restart and got them within range, despite losing Usman Khawaja (30) and Surabh Tiwary (21).
MS Dhoni upped the ante as Pune were requiring 37 off the last 18 balls, smashing a six and a four as the visitors took 20 off the over.
However, Sam Billings took a sensational catch right on the boundary to get rid of Dhoni on 27 and prevent a six for good measure.
Perera was the next man in at No 5 and immediately sent two of the first three balls he faced into the stands to take Pune to the brink of victory.
They now only required three off the final over and a no ball from Mohammed Shami, followed by a four from that man Rahane saw them safely home and finish with figures of 63 off 48 balls.
"The bowlers were bowling to the plan," Dhoni told StarSports. "It felt nice to restrict them to 160.
“We can take a lot of positives, because it was the bowling we were a little worried about.
“The execution was much better. If you keep the death overs aside, you have to bowl to the field.
“In the death overs, I feel the good bowlers are those who double-bluff the batsmen.
“It was a bit uncomfortable in the middle, their spinners bowled well, the wicket got slightly slower.
“Overall it was a well-earned victory for us. When you have lost five games, it’s important to take whatever comes your way. This victory was very much needed, gives us that bit of confidence.”
Duminy said: “It was a missed opportunity.”
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