IPL 10 RPS vs SRH: The return of finisher Dhoni hurts Hyderabad by 6 wickets

Pune: And the finisher is back with a bang. What a display of power hitting it was by a man who was removed as a skipper of the side before the start of Indian Premiere League. Mahendra Singh Dhoni did wonders with match winning 34-ball 61-run knock which helped Rising Pune Supergiants beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by six wickets in the nail-biter contest at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium here on Saturday.

MSD's fiery knock was a stern reply to those who were saying that the wicket-keeper batsman is done with finishing the games.

Dhoni's brutish knock was studded with five fours and three sixes. His knock was blossomed with his trademark helicopter shots.

Even, one of the best bowlers of the tournament, Bhuvneshwar Kumar was not saved from Dhoni's insane hitting. With two fours and a six, he hit 19 runs off Bhuvi's over.

With 2 needed off the final delivery, Mahi finished the things off with boundary through extra-cover.

Chasing the target of 176 runs, Ajinkya Rahane was troubled by Bipul Sharma and departed very early at an individual score of 2.

Rahul Tripathi and captain Steven Smith (27) stitched 72-run stand together before latter was bowled out. Ben Stokes also failed to produce much and was back to the dug out scoring 10 runs.

Manoj Tiwari remained unbeaten at 17.

For SRH, Bhuvi, Bipul and Rashid picked one wicket each.

Earlier, David Warner and Shikhar Dhawan gave a slow but steady start to Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH which helped Moises Henriques to exhibit his batting blitz and elevate his team to a handsome total of 176/3.

Moises Henriques scored an unbeaten 55 runs off 28 balls with 6 fours and 2 sixes, while SRH skipper David Warner played his slowest IPL knock to score 43 runs off 40 balls, with 3 fours and a six. His opening partner Shikhar Dhawan was also equally slow in scoring 30 runs off 29 balls, with 5 boundaries.

The SRH openers added 55 runs off 49 balls, before Dhawan departed. Henriques and Deepak Hooda (19 off 10, 2 fours, 1 six), however, accelerated the scoring rate during the slog overs as they added 47 runs off just 21 balls for the fourth wicket.

It was the inning of Moises Henriques which helped SRH go beyond the 170-run mark, as at one time (129/3 in 16.3 overs), it was looking hard for the team to touch 150.

Daniel Christian bowled an exceptional four-over spell conceding just 20 runs and also bagging the important wicket of Kane Williamson (21 off 14, 1 four, 1 six), who played a brilliant 89-run inning off just 51 balls, in the last match against Delhi Daredevils.

Imran Tahir bowled three overs and got the only wicket of Dhawan, while Jaydev Unadkat went for 41 runs in his four overs, getting the wicket of Warner.