Mumbai: The ninth season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) got off to a sensational start with new team Rising Pune Supergiants trouncing defending champions Mumbai Indians by nine wickets at the Wankhede Stadium. Pune’s all-round performance was so brilliant that they proved that they are the rising super giants of this edition.
Restricting Mumbai to 121 for 8 on Wankhede’s batting paradise, debutants Pune won with 32 balls to spare. Ajinkya Rahane cracked an unbeaten 66 runs off 42 balls with seven boundaries and three sixes. He put on 78 runs in 9.4 overs with Faf Du Plessis (34) and another unbeaten 48 in five overs with Kevin Pietersen, who hit an unconquered 21 runs off 14 balls with two sixes. Though a new team, Pune are experienced with many of them coming from the banned Chennai Super Kings including their skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
If not for Harbhajan Singh’s fighting unbeaten 45 runs off 30 balls with seven boundaries and a six Mumbai may not have crossed the 100 run mark.
Chasing the moderate total, Pune were given a great start by their openers Rahane and du Plessis up on 78 runs in a flash. In fact, Rahane began by hitting the very first ball of their innings from Mitchell McClenaghan for a boundary past the bowler with brilliant timing. He also pulled McClenaghan for a six. Faf too lifted McClenaghan for a straight six, the first five overs got Pune 37 runs.
At the score on 43, Faf escaped being run out despite both the fielders almost at one end. The pair put on the 50 runs partnership with Faf hitting Jasprit Bumrah for a six over covers off a free hit and then went on to pull the next ball for a six. It was nothing but massacre of the Mumbai bowling.
Harbhajan ended the partnership clean bowling Faf who went for a sweep and missed for 34. By then Pune needed only 42 more runs from the next ten overs. Kevin Pietersen who joined Rahane hit Harbhajan for a mighty six over long on. Rahane reached his half century in 32 balls with six fours and a six.
Earlier, Mumbai skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bat. He fielded a team with six batters and five bowlers out of which three are overseas batters and one foreign seamer. Pune’s captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni too wanted to bat first on this wicket which has a reputation of a good batting wicket.
Pune players walked out into the field resting their confidence on Dhoni, whom Ajinkya Rahane remarked as the best captain in world cricket and who knows to get the best out of everyone. West Indies star batsman Lendl Simmons, who ended India’s journey in the ICC Twenty20 World Cup in this venue, opened the innings with his skipper Sharma. The first boundary of this IPL came from Sharma who cracked R.P. Singh through the covers. Ishant Sharma trapped Sharma leg before with the first ball of his over for 7.
Hardik Pandya joined Simmons. The first six of this IPL came from the bat of Simmons who lifted Singh effortlessly over the bowler’s head. Simmons picked two successive boundaries off Sharma’s second boundary but he fell to the fifth ball of that over cleaned bowled by a beautiful inswinger.
Mumbai slipped into further trouble when Pandya trying to pull Mitchell Marsh top edged to wicketkeeper Dhoni for 9. With the last ball of that over Marsh also had IPL debutant Jos Butler’s wicket for a duck making him edge to Ravichandran Ashwin at first slip. Four down for 30 in the first five overs is not the start Mumbai would have wanted to be in after winning the toss.
The mantle of lifting the team out of trouble fell on Kevin Pollard and Ambati Rayudu. Pollard on duck survived a confident appeal for leg before off Marsh. Replays showed the full toss was right in line with the stumps. However, Pollard’s luck did not stay long. He fell leg before to the first ball from Rajat Bhatia for one.
Half the side back in the pavilion with only 40 runs in the board, Shreyas Gopal joined Rayudu. At the half way mark Mumbai were 48 for 5.
Pune introduced leg spinner Murugan Ashwin in the 11th over. He had Gopal on 2 hit to Rahane at long on with the last ball of his first over. This brought in Harbhajan Singh on to the crease with his team at a pathetic 51 for 6.
Ravichandran Ashwin, who was introduced only in the 16th over, picked a wicket with the first ball making Rayudu pull into the hands of Faf Du Plesis for 22. The Mumbai batting was so pathetic that when Harbhajan hit two boundaries the entire home crowd cheered for him. Vinay Kumar too hit Marsh over extra cover for a six. The pair put on 28 runs in 3.3 overs before Kumar pulled Singh to Steven Smith for 12.
