IPL 10 MI vs RPS: Stokes pulls the match away from Mumbai, Pune wins by 3 runs

Mumbai: Yet another breathtaking Indian Premier League encounter ended in favour of Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS) this time. Rohit Sharma, though, scored his first half-century of the tenth season of the league, but it clearly was not enough to evade a 3-run defeat for Mumbai Indians (MI) at their home ground Wankhede Stadium here on Monday.

Coming in to bowl the final over of the inning, with 17 runs needed and Hardik Pandya and Rohit Sharma standing at the crease, Jaydev Unadkat held his nerves well and managed three wickets (one run out) to break the six-match-long winning streak of Mumbai.

Jaydev was preferred over Shradul Thakur (0/29, 3 overs) and Daniel Christian (1/6, 1 over) by Smith after having a conversation with MS Dhoni and Ajinkya Rahane.

Ben Stokes was the pioneer of the win as he not only bagged two wickets for 21 runs, but also went for just 7 runs in the 19^th over of the inning which turned the match around in Rising Pune Supergiant's favour. He also bowled a maiden over in his four-over spell.

Washington Sundar also bowled a crucial spell giving away 26 runs in his four-overs for the wicket of Parthiv Patel (33 off 27, 4 fours).

Coming in to chase down a moderate total of 161 runs, MI lost Jos Buttler (17 off 13) with 35 runs on the board. Nitish Rana who has been in tremendous touch this season failed to contribute this time as he could only manage 3 runs off 9 balls.

MI captain Rohit Sharma, however, played a fine knock of 58 runs off just 39 balls, but he failed to lead his team over the line. He decorated his inning with 6 fours and 3 sixes.

Also Read: IPL 10 MI vs RPS: Mumbai bowlers restrict Pune to 160/6 despite good start

Kieron Pollard, who has been the strength of MI's middle order, scored 9 runs off 9 balls, while Hardik Pandya, who got out during a chase for the first time in the series, added 13 runs off 11 balls. Karn Sharma, who replaced injured Krunal Pandya in the match, managed to post 11 runs off 10 balls.

Harbhajan Singh remained unbeaten at 7 off just 2 balls with a six that he hit on the final delivery of the match to reduce the losing margin to 3 runs.

Earlier, after being put in to bat first, RPS got off to a good start as Ajinkya Rahane (38 off 32) and Rahul Tripathi (45 off 31) added 76 runs for the first wicket. Manoj Tiwary also played a crucial 22-run inning off just 13 balls to help his team post 160/6 in final 20 overs.

Karn Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah had bagged two wickets each while Mitchell Johnson and Harbhajan Singh took one wicket each. By taking the wicket of Steve Smith, Harbhajan completed his 200 IPL wickets.

Ben Stokes also scored 17 runs off 12 balls and also took a brilliant running catch of Hardik Pandya in the final over, was named man of the match for his outstanding performance.