Rising Pune Supergiants added more spice to the race to the VIVO IPL 2016 Playoffs after they defeated contenders Delhi Daredevils on Tuesday.
After restricting the Daredevils to 121-6, RPS were guided by Ajinkya Rahane’s calm 42 before rains forced a premature end to proceedings. At that stage, RPS were 76-1, found to be 19 runs ahead of the par score worked out using the Duckworth-Lewis Stern method.
Earlier in the evening, the Delhi Daredevils, put in to bat first, never really kicked into fifth gear mode. Runs came in trickles for most of the innings; if not for a flourish in the last three overs, the Daredevils wouldn’t have even reached the 100-run mark. Karun Nair, who batted at three, was the innings top-scorer; the Karnataka batsman scored 41 and struck five boundaries in his 43-ball outing. The only other knock of note came from the willow of Chris Morris; the South African, who came in to bat in the 15th over, tonked four boundaries and two sixes in his 20-ball 38.
Thanks to Morris’ cameo at the end, the Delhi Daredevils added 40 runs in the final three overs and finished at 121-6. Summary of the DD innings: they scored 28-2 in the powerplay, 45-3 in the middle overs and played out 52 dot balls in total.
It was a disciplined bowling performance all round from the Rising Pune Superigants bowlers. Ashok Dinda set the tone, bowling a tight spell upfront and trapping the prolific Quinton de Kock leg before in the third over. The rest of the bowling attack maintained the pressure too; the spin-twins Adam Zampa and R Ashwin exploited the conditions beautifully, conceding only 44 runs in their eight overs combined. The only blip in what was an otherwise clinical performance from the bowlers was the last over from Thisara Perera which cost them 22 runs.
RPS’ run-chase was interrupted on two occasions – on the first time for nearly an hour and on the second occasion which brought an early closure. Despite losing Usman Khawaja in the fourth over, Rahane held his end and played some exquisite shots in his 36-ball 42. At the end of the eleventh over, the rains came down hard and brought an early closure to proceedings. RPS were 76-1.
Brief Score
Delhi Daredevils 121-6 in 20.0 Overs (Karun Nair 41, Chris Morris 38*, Ashok Dinda 3-20, Adam Zampa 3-21)
Rising Pune Supergiants 76-1 in 11.0 Overs (Ajinkya Rahane 42*) by 19 runs (DLS Method).
Man of the Match: Ashok Dinda, for his spell of 4-1-20-3.
