IPL 2017: How did Pune manage runners-up?

"How did RPS not become champions of IPL 2017?" That must be the question ringing loudly in Steve Smith's ears as he packs his bags after a 3 month long-tour of India. This was his 2nd heartbreak as captain in less than two months and both came in matches where his team dominated at the outset. The fact that he topped the batting charts in the test series and was also the top run scorer amongst both IPL finalists (no. 4 overall), would be minor consolations. As the skipper of RPS, this snatching of defeat from the jaws of victory, will hurt Smith. And the brute reality of him being at the crease till the final over and esp. when the match was in RPS' control, will confound and hound him in equal measure. What played out at Hyderabad was a classic case of many a slip between the cup and the lip!

Mighty struggle for the MI batters

It all looked very different at the halfway stage, of course. RPS had put in a brilliant bowling display and restricted MI to a manageable 129. In fact, even 129 looked difficult at the 15 over stage. Rohit Sharma won the toss and, in keeping with the tradition in IPL finals, chose to bat first (my previous blog covering this). Unadkat continued his rich vein of form and quickly snuffed out both the MI openers with the team score still in single digits. Rohit Sharma and the local boy, Ambati Rayudu, tried to stem the tide but the going wasn't easy. The man of the match in the previous MI-RPS encounter, off-spinner Washington Sundar, kept things very tight and didn't allow MI to get away in the powerplay. Rohit plundered four boundaries off Ferguson in the 6th over to ensure that MI reached a respectable 32/2 (given the slowish pitch) at the end of powerplay. However, as things were beginning to look slightly better for MI, disaster struck. Rayudu played a firm cover drive, off Ferguson, straight to Smith at mid-off and tried scampering for a non-existent single. He was possibly hoping that Smith would miss hitting directly but the RPS skipper hit the bulls eye, finding Rayudu well short of the crease. At 41/3, MI were hoping that the free-flowing Rohit and the in-form Krunal Pandya would put on a partnership similar to the one in the Qualifier 2 against KKR. However, they were in for a rude shock. In the 11th over, the leg-spinner Adam Zampa first got the benefit of a bigger ground at Uppal when Rohit failed to get the distance while pulling a short delivery, and holed out to deep mid-wicket. In came Kieron Pollard and he looked like he wanted to break the shackles straight away. He smote an effortless six off the first ball he faced but then fell to some tactically brilliant field placement. Possibly on advice from Dhoni, Smith placed a very straight long-off and Pollard duly obliged, hitting a flighted delivery from Zampa, straight to that fielder. Hardik Pandya didn't last long and neither did Karn Sharma. At the end of 15 overs, MI were 81/7 and in real danger of being bowled out for less than 100.

Krunal Pandya rescues MI

The one man standing between RPS and the IPL trophy, however, was the exceptionally smart and versatile, Krunal Pandya. He quickly assessed the nature of the wicket and as the last recognized batsman, decided to delay the late innings assault. Receiving good support from the experienced Mitch Johnson, Pandya demonstrated great improvisation in dealing with both, the slower ones from Unadkat, as well as the seam-up deliveries from Dan Christian. Crucially, MI plundered 37 runs off the last 3 overs and gave their bowlers 129 to defend. MI's hopes now rested on a superlative performance from their more consistent discipline this year i.e. their bowling.

Over-cautious RPS keep MI in the game

Still, given that 129 was the lowest a team had scored when batting first in an IPL final, RPS were heavy favorites going into the 2nd innings. MI needed early breakthroughs and Bumrah did just that, trapping the explosive Tripathi in front. The lanky MI bowler got slightly lucky with the decision as the ball was going just over the stumps. MI should've picked up Rahane also but Krunal Pandya dropped a sitter after Malinga had foxed the RPS opener by a brilliant slower one. Like he has done all IPL, Rohit continuously rotated his bowlers. At the 10 over mark, the game was meandering along with neither MI picking up wickets nor RPS getting ahead of the required run rate (by way of aggressive batting). However this meant that even though MI were sloppy in the field, the combination of miserly bowling and over-cautious batting from Rahane and Smith, kept MI in the game. MI believed (and rightly so) that a couple of wickets could really make this chase, tense.

In the 12th over, the game suddenly opened up. First, Johnson picked up Rahane, thanks to an exceptional catch from Pollard. The tall West Indian ran quickly from long-on and then dived forward to complete an extremely tough catch. Then, RPS decided to bring Dhoni in at no. 4. This was a deviation from their earlier strategy of batting Tiwary at 4 and Dhoni at 5. Possibly, the RPS team management felt that Dhoni would take longer to get in and an equation reading 59 off 49 was manageable with Smith still batting. However, that equation soon became 47 from 30 balls as Karn Sharma, Krunal Pandya and Malinga delivered three exceptional overs, going for just 12 runs! As the tournament's last strategic timeout came about, Dhoni was struggling with 4 from 9 balls and Smith too was scoring at less than run-a-ball (25 off 35 balls). MI was making RPS sweat for every run but with the protagonists of the successful chase from this season's first MI-RPS encounter, at the crease, RPS were still the favorites.

Last 5 overs of IPL 2017 - ebbs and flows

16th over - As Krunal Pandya got ready to bowl his final over, the experience duo of Smith and Dhoni instantly realized that they needed to attack the left-arm spinner by taking calculated risks. Off the 3rd ball, Dhoni used his fast bat speed and strong wrists to hit a vertical bat square cut, and got a welcome boundary. Then off the 5th ball, Smith played, arguably, the shot of the match. He unleashed a powerful reverse sweep and hit it well over the point boundary for a six. 14 runs came off that over, equation was brought down to 33 off 24 balls and Rohit Sharma's gamble of bowling a spinner at this stage of the innings, seemed to have backfired. Advantage RPS!

17th over - Realizing that he needed wickets as well as stem the flow of runs, the MI skipper brought on his trump card and his clutch bowler, Bumrah. Earlier in this season, Bumrah was preferred over Malinga to bowl the superover against Gujarat Lions and he successfully defended 11 against batsmen of the calibre of McCullum and Finch. He was entrusted to bring MI back in the game and he didn't disappoint. Off the 2nd ball of the over, a fast in-cutter got Dhoni slashing and edging to Parthiv Patel. In came Manoj Tiwary and almost immediately had a huge LBW shout turned down. Overall, Bumrah bowled three dot balls (including the wicket-taking delivery) and conceded a single each of the other three balls. To summarize, he brought MI right back into the match with an over of the highest quality. RPS now needed 30 from 18 balls; remember, MI got 37 runs from their last 18 balls! Slight advantage to RPS!

18th over - Malinga was entrusted with bowling the 18th over. The old Sri Lankan warhorse didn't have a great IPL but he was mostly accurate in this match. First four balls included two dots and two singles. Equation climbed up to 28 runs from 14 balls and also went up MI's chances. Then Smith produced another moment of magic - a near yorker on the leg stump was expertly dealt with (by staying deep in the crease) and whipped to the backward square leg fence for a crucial boundary. 7 runs came off Malinga's final over and the equation now read, 23 runs from 12 balls. Still advantage to RPS but MI in with a fair chance!

19th over - Rohit continued with Bumrah for the crucial 19th over. With so much riding on his young shoulders, Bumrah possibly felt the pressure and delivered a full-toss first up. Smith too, possibly nervous, couldn't take full advantage of this and nearly holed out to deep mid-wicket. The next three deliveries went for three singles (1 leg bye). At this stage, the equation read 19 off 8 balls and if Bumrah managed to concede only 2-3 runs, the last over equation would've been very tough for RPS. Instead, Smith, who was sitting very deep in his crease and hence was able to generate leverage for the just-short-of-yorker length, smacked the 5th ball for a six over long-off. The last ball was another high full-toss and yet again, Smith couldn't make a good connection (they ran two). Nevertheless, with 12 runs coming off that over, the equation was down to 11 runs off 6 balls. Big advantage to RPS with MI's chances dimmed slightly!

20th over - In the first MI-RPS encounter this season, Bumrah had delivered the 19th over and by conceding just 7 runs in that over, he left 12 runs to be defended in the final over (and Pollard couldn't defend those). Here, he had gone for 12 runs in the penultimate over and hence, left only 10 runs to defend. However, the key difference was that Rohit had one over from Johnson and hence, didn't have to go to any non-regular bowler. With Tiwary on strike, Johnson bowled the first delivery from over the wicket and his slower one was dispatched for a boundary. Now, just 7 runs were needed off 5 balls - looked like all over for MI! Johnson switched sides and Tiwary, looking for a big hit, got the inside half of the bat (off another slow off-cutter) and his lofted drive landed safely into the big hands of Pollard at long-on. However, importantly for RPS, the batsmen had switched ends as the catch was being taken and hence, with 7 needed off 4 balls, it was Smith on strike. The time for the knockout punch was now or never! Johnson delivered a seam-up delivery just outside off and Smith hit an amazing lofted square drive. The connection was very good and the ball was headed for 6 but it was also headed in the direction of the only outfielder on the off-side, Ambati Rayudu. Rayudu positioned at sweeper cover, plucked out a very good catch since the ball was travelling flat and quick. In fact, a few inches on either side, would've meant a 6 thereby almost finishing off MI's chances. This was a crucial wicket for MI - two wickets in two balls also meant that there were two dot balls. The equation had become a more difficult 7 off 3. And the batsmen couldn't cross in time and hence, instead of Dan Christian, it was Sundar on strike. The batsmen stole a bye on the hattrick ball and it was now in the hands of Christian. 6 needed off 2 and Christian got a length ball on the leg stump but the burly all-rounder couldn't deposit it for a boundary or six. Hardik Pandya dropped a tough chance at deep mid-wicket and the fumble allowed a couple. So it was down to 4 runs off the final ball! Two Aussies faced up to each other with the Indian Premier League trophy on the line! Johnson bowled another quick ball on the leg stump, Christian could only manage to get it to the substitute fielder (Suchith) at deep square leg. Suchith made a nervy stop, possibly aware of the boundary rope behind him, and even fumbled when making the throw. However, his throw was accurate enough and as the RPS batsmen attempted the third, Parthiv Patel effected the run out and MI won the match and hence IPL 2017, by a solitary run! It was an exhilarating performance by MI and they won a match in which, at the innings break, nobody gave them a chance.

Conclusion

This victory was made possible due to excellent all-round bowling performance by MI and over-cautious approach by the RPS batsmen. It was sweet revenge for Rohit and his men and in many ways, this match was a microcosm of all the previous MI-RPS encounters this season. Similar to the first match, it was MI batting first and Smith and Rahane batting well for RPS. In that match too, Smith took the chase to the last over. Also had commonality with the 2nd match; the chasing team botched up a chase which was under their control for most parts. In that game it was MI's skipper Rohit who batted well and brought his team close before falling in the last over, thereby failing to take the team over the finishing line. And Krunal Pandya's late innings (and match winning) assault in this match was very similar to Dhoni's in their last match, both in terms of nature and impact. 

The IPL rules are set for an overhaul this year and, given that CSK and RR will make a comeback next year, a lot of things are likely to change. The first decade of IPL is nicely bookended by two similar last ball finishes. What better advertisement for the edge-of-the-seat thrill that IPL promises!

IPL 2017: Pune overcome Mumbai again in another nail-biter

Rising Pune Supergiants (RPS) handed Mumbai Indians (MI) only their second defeat of IPL 2017, in a nail-biting encounter at Wankhede stadium. Remarkably, both of Mumbai's defeats have come at the hands of RPS and both these encounters went down to the last three balls. While the RPS captain, Steve Smith, helped his team chase down a stiffer target and hit the winning runs, the MI captain couldn't quite replicate that as Rohit fell in the last over. This defeat snapped MI's 6-watch winning streak and was their first defeat in 7 matches at Wankhede. With this win, RPS continued their strong surge and having secured their third successive win, are now placed in the top 4.

Toss: Karn in, Krunal out

Mumbai won the toss and Rohit Sharma had no hesitation in putting the opposition in. Crucially for MI, Krunal Pandya had to sit out due to an injury and they decided to play the leg spinner, Karn Sharma. This was slightly surprising since Karn doesn't provide the same batting proficiency as Krunal. There was a feeling that MI were a batsman short. RPS, who had aced a close chase over SRH in their previous match, felt no need to change the playing XI.

RPS batting: Aggressive Tripathy, Impressive Tiwary

Ajinkya Rahane and Rahul Tripathi started off solidly, mixing caution with some delightful strokes. In the first few overs, it was Rahane who was the aggressor with a couple of sumptuous straight drives, one each on either side of the umpire, standing out. Rohit introduced Karn Sharma in the 4th over itself and after a calm first over, both Tripathi and Rahane laid into him in his second over. That over, the last of the powerplay, yielded 11 runs and ensured that the score at the end of powerplay looked competitive (48/0). RPS continued to score at a brisk pace, taking 14 off McClenaghan's 2nd over (8th of the innings), before the spinners applied brakes on the scoring rate. Harbhajan was miserly, conceding just 16 runs off this 3 overs, while Karn Sharma was the wicket taker. He first dismissed Rahane via a top spinner, then prised out the impressive Tripathi and could've also had Smith the next ball, but Harbhajan dropped a simple catch at deep square leg. However, it didn't cost MI much as the off-spinner made amends by scalping Smith in the very next over. RPS managed to reach 126/3 after 16 overs. With Dhoni struggling with his timing and 3 of the remaining 4 overs to be bowled by Bumrah and McClenaghan, a par score was on the cards. 

Both Stokes and Dhoni were dismissed in quick succession but as he has often done this season, Manoj Tiwary batted beautifully. He took 11 off Johnson's final over (17th of the innings) and then again, 10 off the 20th over (by Bumrah) to ensure that RPS finished with a par score of 160. For RPS, Rahul Tripathi, who's been one of the finds of the season, was the most impressive batsman, scoring 45 off 31 balls (including 2 sixes) while Manoj Tiwary played a crucial cameo at the end, scoring 22 off 13 balls. For MI, despite going for 10 runs off his final over, Bumrah was the most impressive bowler, conceding less than 30 runs off his full quota and accounting for Dhoni and Tiwary. Karn Sharma, playing his first game for MI, wasn't afraid of flighting the ball and pitching it up while ripping his leg breaks, and although he went for 39 runs off his 4 overs, he snared both the openers.  

MI batting: Middle order stutters, Rohit motors along

A target of 161 wasn't daunting, esp. considering that MI chased down a target of 199 with nearly 5 overs to spare, just four days back. The hosts may have also been hoping for dew later on, given that they chose to chase. RPS started with the off-spin of Washington Sundar but despite a quiet first over, the Buttler-Parthiv duo plundered runs off the next 3 overs thereby ensuring that MI was sitting comfortably at 35/0 at the end of 4 overs, well ahead of the required run rate. The introduction of Stokes in the 5th over, however, changed the complexion of the chase. He immediately accounted for his England team-mate Buttler, who fell trying to hit a slower one. Stokes could've also had Nitesh Rana in the same over, had Manoj Tiwary moved his hands slightly forward to gobble up a low offering at 1st slip. This wicket maiden proved crucial as Smith changed his bowlers around smartly and MI lost both Rana and Parthiv, with both attempting to up the scoring rate. 

MI threw in Karn Sharma at the loss of Parthiv's wicket (at 60/3), possibly to counter the leg spin of Tahir, and the strategy seemed to work for a short while as the two Sharmas added 26 off the next 3 overs. There were a few nervy moments as Tahir had an LBW shout, off a googly, against Rohit turned down (hit outside the line of off-stump) and then Manoj Tiwary dropped his second catch of the evening, when Karn chipped a simple grab at covers. Once again, Smith turned to Stokes and once again the burly all-rounder delivered. He accounted for Karn off the first ball of his second over. At 86/4 in the 13th over, MI needed 75 off 47 balls, but they must have been confident at this juncture, given that the in-form Pollard came to the crease and Rohit looked in good touch. The Mumbai skipper was especially severe on Imran Tahir, plundering 21 runs off the leggie's 13 balls (inclusive of a six and 3 boundaries), and in the process proved to the world that he hadn't forgotten smashing leg spinners. This calculated assault meant that going into the 2nd strategic timeout, MI needed just 39 runs off the last 24 balls. 

However, as has happened quite often during this IPL, the timeout scalped a batsman immediately after resumption. Off the very first ball of the 17th over, Pollard tried to hit Tahir out of the ground but was caught at wide long-off. Hardik Pandya and Rohit took no further chances off Tahir's final over and just 4 came off that one. 35 off 18 started looking a bit uncomfortable for MI but Pandya hit Unadkat for a couple of boundaries in the 18th over, thereby bringing the target down to 24 off 12. Once again, Smith entrusted Stokes with the crucial 19th over and Stokes produced an over of the highest quality. His pinpoint fast yorkers proved tough for both Pandya and Rohit to get under, and the over cost just 7 runs. The tension was rising in the MI camp as the hosts needed 17 off the final over, to be bowled by Unadkat. 

The Final Over: Wickets, Sixes, Drama

The stage was set. The Saurashtra seamer, still only 25, last played for India four years back and has had a couple of impressive Ranji seasons since then. On the other hand, both MI batsmen have been quite adept at successfully solving such equations. Pandya had plundered 30 runs off the final over in the previous MI-RPS encounter this season (off Dinda) when MI were batting first and was also responsible for the successful chase against KKR, where he and Rana plundered 58 runs off the last 20 balls to take MI to an unbelievable victory. Rohit himself has been instrumental in a very similar victory in IPL 2009, when he took 26 runs off the final over (21 was needed) to take his then franchise, Deccan Chargers, to an astounding victory over KKR. The target in that match? 161!

19.1 - Pandya tried to smash the first ball out of the park. It was a slower one delivered on a good length and even though Pandya made a good connection, RPS' Man Friday, Ben Stokes, plucked out a brilliant catch diving forward at deep extra cover. This was the first time Pandya had been dismissed during a chase in IPL 2017. 

19.2 - The batsmen had crossed over while the catch was being taken and hence it was Rohit, who had completed his first half-century in this edition, on strike. Unadkat bowled a similar ball but this time Rohit got the measure of it and clobbered it over long-on for a 6. The equation was brought down to 11 off 4 balls. 

19.3 - The next delivery produced a critical moment in the match. Rohit moved slightly across, outside the off-stump, and Unadkat floated a slower ball fuller in length and wider of the guideline. Everybody thought it was a wide but not the umpire. He had seen the batsman move from his original stance before the ball was delivered and deemed that the ball wasn't wide enough for him to get a connection. Replays suggested that his first assumption was right but the 2nd one wasn't. Even with that shuffle, the ball was out of MI skipper's reach and should have been called a wide. So instead of a more manageable 10 off 4 balls, the equation became a more daunting 11 off 3 balls.   

19.4 - Next ball, Unadkat bowled another slower one but shortened his length considerably. Rohit tried to repeat the dose but could only manage a top edge and the skier was taken by the bowler. This was a huge wicket. The bowler hit the back of his head hard while catching that but thankfully no damage was done and he was able to continue. 11 was now needed off 2 balls. MI could only hope for a tie now (unless Unadkat bowled a no-ball or wide) and with both Rohit and Pandya dismissed, those hopes were rather slim.

19.5 - Harbhajan smoked a fuller ball outside off to deep cover and the batsmen ran for a couple, possibly praying for a couple of wides and a six off the remaining balls, to hang on to a tie. Those prayers too went unanswered as Mitch McClenaghan was run out at the bowler's end. The man responsible? Ben Stokes, who else! 10 was now needed off the final delivery and the RPS victory was now a mere formality.

19.6 - The final ball from Unadkat was a length ball and Harbhajan moved across to slog a six over wide long-on. Maximum result off the final delivery but still not enough to ensure any points for MI.

It was another close encounter between the two Maharashtra franchises and once again, RPS defeated MI by a close margin. This was also their 2nd consecutive win over MI at Wankhede. With this victory, RPS moved to the 4th spot in the points table and continued their strong revival. Mumbai must be ruing their missed opportunities but in all fairness, they were undone by the brilliance of Stokes (who was adjudged player of the match) and the calmness of Unadkat.