Sources have stated that MS Dhoni and Washington Sundar made match-winning contributions as Rising Pune Supergiant had spayed Mumbai Indians by 20 runs to reach their maiden Indian Premier League final on Wednesday. Dhoni was at his destructive best, smashing 40 off 26 balls in the death over’s to propel Pune to 162 for four before young off-spinner Sundar took three important wickets that led to Mumbai falling short with 142 for nine in Qualifier 1. It was Pune's third win over Mumbai in as many games this season, providing them with an opportunity to win the coveted trophy in only their second season.
Meanwhile Mumbai, who had topped the group stages, remain in the competition and will meet the winner of tomorrow's Eliminator, between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kolkata Knight Riders, in Qualifier 2 on Friday. With the pitch playing unusually slow, anything over 150 was a tricky target despite Mumbai batting deep.
It was stated that Sundar sent back opposition
skipper Rohit Sharma, Ambati Rayudu and Kieron Pollard in a space of 12 balls
to leave Mumbai gasping at 51 for four in eight over’s. Parthiv Patel (52 off 40) was solid at the other end and even used the long
handle effectively to smash three sixes on the one side. He eventually ran out
of partners with Pandya brothers too back in the pavilion leaving Mumbai at 101
for six in the 15th over. Patel too fell three balls later, leaving the tail-enders
to do too much in the end with 60 runs needed off the last 30 balls.
Earlier, Mumbai Indians put up a decent bowling effort until Dhoni hit a barrage of sixes to help Pune post a fighting total. Pune got the much-needed push in the last two over’s and Tiwary too gave him good support during their 73-run stand off 44 balls, scoring four boundaries and two sixes in total.
