The first half of the Indian Premier League is almost over and we have witnessed some boisterous contests. The tournament is surely living up to its reputation across the nation for the entertainment it provides. Two teams, who have traversed diverse paths in the tournament face off tonight. It's Rising Pune Supergiants taking on Gujarat Lions. After four losses on the trot, RPS turned the tide with a win against SRH in their previous game. They will be high on confidence and are keen to sustain the winning momentum. Just days after Kevin Pietersen hobbled out of the pitch with a calf injury, Pune suffered yet another setback when Faf du Plessis, their second leading run-getter, was ruled out of the competition due to a finger injury. Usman Khawaja replaces him in the squad. Ashok Dinda and Mitchell Marsh's bowling against Hyderabad will certainly inspire confidence in their ranks. There will be huge pressure on Ajinkya Rahane, Steve Smith and MS Dhoni to shoulder responsibility with the bat.
The Lions, sitting pretty at the top of the points table, staged a dramatic fightback to down Daredevils by a solitary run in their last match. Their bowling unit literally pulled back the game from the jaws of defeat. One of the reasons behind the visitor's success has been their batting top order. Aaron Finch, Brendon McCullum and Dwayne Smith have ensured brisk starts so far in the league but Finch's fitness is a cause of concern for the Rajkot-based franchise. In the first leg when these two sides met, Gujarat had come out on top and this time ideally, Dhoni would be seeking a revenge. Stay tuned! We will bring you the toss and teams in a little while.
Gujarat Lions (Playing XI): Dwayne Smith, Brendon McCullum, Suresh Raina(c), Dinesh Karthik(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Ishan Kishan, Dwayne Bravo, James Faulkner, Praveen Kumar, Dhawal Kulkarni, Shivil Kaushik
Rising Pune Supergiants (Playing XI): Ajinkya Rahane, Peter Handscomb, Steven Smith, Saurabh Tiwary, MS Dhoni(w/c), Thisara Perera, Albie Morkel, Rajat Bhatia, Ravichandran Ashwin, Murugan Ashwin, Ashok Dinda
Raina: "We are bowling first. It looks green. We need to bowl in good areas. There is always something with the new ball. I think we bowled well in the last game. When the matches is not over, you have to kepe pushing harder and that is what we did in the last game. Finch is injured and Tambe is injured. Sunil Kaushik is playing."
MS Dhoni: "I think it is a combination of green and the breeze. I know the fast bowlers will swing over here. It is hard underneath. I have not played enough games over here and whatever we have played, it has played differently. There are a couple of changes. Faf du Plessis has had a finger problem. Mitchell Marsh is injured. Handscomb and Ablie Morkel are playing. When we have won a couple of games, we have done well in all 3 departments and that is what we have to take as benchmarks."
It didn't take long for Gujarat Lions to break the opening stand. Rahane called for a quick single but Saurabh Tiwary was simply too slow to beat Raina's swoop and dive into the stumps. He fell for just 1, bringing Steve Smith in. It isn't a bad idea to have him in early.
Ajinkya Rahane and Steve Smith seem to enjoy playing together. They have similar game-plans while batting and have a good understanding while running between the wickets. Without taking any risk, the duo have put on a brisk stand that has resurrected Pune.
Shivil Kaushik would be an awfully disappointed man. He had Steve Smith out bowled on 41, only to see replays show that he had overstepped. The wicket could have been a big one in a personal context and in the game itself. Instead, Smith would go on to knock Shivil for a six off the free hit and go on towards a fifty
MS Dhoni came in at the fall of Rahane's wicket. The opener was run out after getting his fifty and the timing proved ideal for RPS as they were looking to accelerate. Smith was scoring the boundaries quite freely and Dhoni found his groove early on as RPS upped the ante in the end overs.
Steve Smith got to his hundred in the final over of the innings, a stunning knock that helped Rising Pune get to an imposing 195. MS Dhoni was unbeaten on 30 off 18 balls. Pune will be fancying their chances after notching up a good score but on a good pitch, the target is definitely a gettable one.
Brendon McCullum and Dwayne Smith fell in quick succession but not before the latter had completed a superb fifty. Rajat Bhatia got the breakthrough when he had MCCullum caught. Smith continued aggressively before falling to Perera. It meant that Pune had a chance to sneak back in now. The chase wasn't going to be an easy one but Gujarat still had a lot of batting to come.
McCullum and Dwayne Smith are the right men to have in the team to lead a chase as stiff as 195. The duo, despite some good bowling from Dinda, managed to find the boundaries regularly and made full use of the batting powerplay, helping RPS move on at a rate of 12 per over.
Following the departure of two well-set batsmen, the tempo has certainly come down. Raina and Dinesh Karthik have done well to ensure that they have enough wickets in hand but the time has come to up the ante now. Can they deliver in this crunch situation?
Dinesh Karthik fell soon after adding a fifty-run stand with Raina. However, the skipper was already well-set. With the chase getting tighter and tighter, the onus was on him to deliver again.
Murugan Ashwin conceded only four runs off the 18th over. In the following over, with 20 needed, Bravo and Jadeja fell in quick succession putting the skipper under more pressure.
With 9 needed off the last over bowled by Thisara Perera, Gujarat almost made a mess out of it before Faulkner held his nerve. Raina and Ishan Kishen fell off successive deliveries as the final over meandered down to one needed off the last ball. Faulkner calmly chipped it past short mid on and helped Gujarat to yet another successful chase.