A terrific all round performance by Rising Pune Supergiants helped them to a comfortable six wicket Duckworth-Lewis victory against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Pune bowlers cloud over the Sunrisers
After a handful of minor rain showers caused the ground staff to be on and off the pitch quicker than a Carlos Brathwaite slog over cow corner, Rising Pune Supergiants put Sunrisers Hyderabad into bat.
The decision paid off immediately as David Warner lasted just four balls as he reached for a wide ball to Ashok Dinda and planted it straight into Ajinkya Rahane's grateful hands at backward point. Unfortunately for the Sunrisers, this was a sign of things to come throughout their innings.
Shikhar Dhawan and Aditya Tare began to try and rebuild but the latter never looked comfortable and he eventually top edged Dinda to Thisara Perera for just eight. England Twenty20 captain Eoin Morgan only hung around for two balls as he edged a full Mitchell Marsh delivery to MS Dhoni for a duck, as the Powerplay filtered out at 27-3.
Deepak Hooda did not last much longer as he gloved an attempted paddle to Dhoni off Ravi Ashwin's first delivery for just one off nine deliveries. Sunrisers were then dropped into even more trouble as Moises Henriques edged a ball floating down leg side from Marsh straight to Dhoni for his third catch, leaving the batting side stranded at 32-5.
Meanwhile Dhawan was toiling away at the other end and he eventually found a partner who stayed with him for a period of time. The opener and Naman Ojha made 47 off 51 deliveries as they struggled to find the boundary, before the number seven was bowled by Dinda for 18 as he looked to hit a big shot.
Dhawan eventually bought up his half century in 48 deliveries, hitting a rare six to reach the milestone in style. Bipul Sharma was run out by Perera for just five, before Kumar smashed 21 off just eight deliveries before falling to the same player. Meanwhile, Dhawan remained unbeaten on 56, the second lowest total by an opener who batted throughout the whole 20 overs in IPL history, as his side limped to 118-8. Dinda was the pick of the bowlers for Pune as he finished with 3-23 from his four overs.
Smith and du Plessis show their class
The Supergiants chase got off to an almost identical start to the performance of their opponents, as they lost the wicket of Rahane without scoring in the first over. Kumar was the man who delivered as Morgan took a comfortable catch at point.
Though Sunrisers could not build on their momentum as Faf du Plessis and Steve Smith swung the pendulum back in favour of Pune. The pair added 46 by the end of the Powerplay, before boosting the partnership to 80 when a bouncy delivery from Henriques caught du Plessis behind for 30.
Smith moved to 46 before Dhoni was dismissed for just five by Ashish Nehra, as the heavens began to open. The Supergiants found themselves 34 runs in front on the Duckworth-Lewis method due to the powerful hitting of Smith and Du Plessis and that was enough to see them over the line as the match was duly abandoned.