IPL 2016: Chase specialist Rohit takes MI to win on Maharashtra Day

Brief Scores: RPS 159/5 in 20 overs (Tiwary 57(45), Smith 45(23), Bumrah 3/29) lost to MI 161/2 in 18.3/20 (Rohit 85*(60), Buttler 27*(17), Ashwin 1/21) by eight wickets

Although Parthiv fell in the fourth over, Rohit and Ambati Rayudu took the innings forward by cashing in whenever opportunities appeared. Two maximums in consecutive overs off Ashwin and Bhatia kept the required run rate in check as the reigning champions finished the first half of the innings with 76 runs on board.

Earlier, Rising Pune Supergiants, who managed just two wins out of the first seven matches, welcomed the reigning champions to their den, hoping for a similar result they registered against their Maharashtra rivals in the opening game of the IPL season. The M S Dhoni-led side have been plagued with injuries, and to add to that injury-list, which already has Kevin Pietersen and Faf du Plessis, the Pune side have also lost Aussie all-rounder Mitchell Marsh with a side strain. With the bowling being the main problem of the side, Australian pacer Scott Boland came into the starting line-up in place of Albie Morkel for the final match in Maharashtra.

The defending champions, on the other hand, had finally registered two consecutive victories in the season by beating Kings XI Punjab and Kolkata Knight Riders, and went into the match with an unchanged line-up hoping to make it three on the trot. Batting second has been the flavour of the season so far, and Mumbai Indians won the toss to choose the obvious.

Tiwary played second-fiddle to Smith during the first six, but turned into the main aggressor in the seventh over. Twenty runs came in that over bowled by Krunal Pandya with Tiwary depositing the ball twice into the stands behind the midwicket boundary. In an attempt to break the partnership Rohit brought Bumrah back into the attack in the 10th over and the right-arm pacer delivered by removing Smith for 45, which he had scored off just 23 balls. Smith’s attempted dab to third man proved to be too fine for comfort and the ball crashed into Parthiv Patel’s gloves to end the 84-run partnership.

The wicket brought an end to the run flow as the run rate dipped from 10.11 at the end of ninth over to 8.23 by the 13th over. Peter Handscomb came in at No.4 and departed without adding much to the board, and that left Dhoni with the responsibility of taking his team to a fighting total. However, nothing went right for Captain Cool as he scored a run-a-ball 24 to add to the low run rate. At the end, the Pune side finished with 159/5 on the back of Saurabh Tiwary’s 45-ball 57, while Jasprit Bumrah starred with the ball for Mumbai by picking three wickets for 29 runs.