Delhi Daredevils 121/6 (20/20 ov)
Rising Pune Supergiants 76/1 (11/11 ov, target 58)
Rising Pune Supergiants won by 19 runs (D/L method)
Even a fallen giant can still cause trouble with late twitches before fading away as MS Dhoni's Rising Pune Supergiants proved against Delhi Daredevils on Tuesday.
Having won the Indian Premier League twice for Chennai Super Kings, Dhoni rallied his men, especially the bowlers, as they beat Delhi in a rain-curtailed match by 19 runs via the Duckworth-Lewis method in Vishakhapatnam.
“No point taking extra pressure,” Dhoni told StarSports after the match.
Rain merely delayed the inevitable as Pune were comfortably on their way to victory after the Delhi’s fragile batting failed to show up yet again and could only post 121 for six earlier.
Medium pacer Ashok Dinda (3-20) and leg-spinner Adam Zampa (3-21) had applied the brakes and it needed another late cameo from Chris Morris to push Delhi past the 100-run mark. Morris hit two sixes and a four in the final over off Thisara Perera to return to the dugout unbeaten on 38 from 20 balls.
“The fast bowlers bowled well. They gave a platform for the spinners. It’s good to see them bowl as a unit together,” Dhoni said.
If the bowlers delivered for Pune, batting mainstay Ajinkya Rahane led the chase in the reply. The team lost their previous two games because Rahane could not reach double digits. He was determined to make amends Tuesday despite a constant drizzle and two stoppages as rains hit the southern part of drought-hit India.
The defeat dealt a blow to Delhi as it denied them two crucial points to overtake Royal Challengers Bangalore, who take on Punjab today, in the race to be the fourth team to make the play-offs.
“The table is still wide open,” Delhi captain Zaheer Khan said. “It is simplified for us: Two out of two. I am with the way things are. We are still in the hunt.
“A couple of decisions did not go our way. We just have to turn up for the next game and go for it.”
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