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Pune: Rohit Sharma scored another half-century to lead Mumbai Indians to a comfortable 8-wicket win over Rising Pune Supergiants at Pune on Sunday.
The win helped defending champions Mumbai jump to second in the standings with 10 points from nine games.
The match ended on a predictable note, with the MI batsmen making short work of an RPS total that was never likely to cause any trouble. Rohit played the guiding hand, but he was backed up ably by Parthiv Patel, Ambati Rayudu, and Jos Buttler.
Parthiv dominated the opening partnership with Rohit by scoring 21 of the 39 runs the duo scored together.
Parthiv’s 21 came off 15 balls and had as many as 4 boundaries. He was done in by a terrific catch by wicketkeeper MS Dhoni, diving to his right to take the edge produced by Ashok Dinda.
Rayudu, who had had a fiery run-in with Harbhajan Singh earlier in the day, ended up scoring 22 off 19 with 1 four and 1 six before holing out to Ajinkya Rahane off Ravichandran Ashwin
Earlier, Saurabh Tiwary and Steven Smith played fine innings to lead RPS to a reasonable 159 for 5.
Smith was done in by a fine bouncing, in-coming delivery from Jasprit Bumrah for 45. He ended up nicking behind to Parthiv Patel after having faced 23 balls and hitting 4 fours and 3 sixes.
The partnership for the second wicket produced 84 vital runs a little more than 7 overs. Handscomb was dismissed soon after, top-edging a sweep shot off Harbhajan Singh to Jos Buttler in the deep.
Meanwhile, there was a slight break in cricketing action in favour of some action that did not bode well for MI’s ‘Fair Play’ ratings. Harbhajan Singh and Ambati Rayudu were involved in a slight spat, though luckily it did not get out of control.
Tiwary hit a ball firmly to cow corner, where Rayudu dove in an attempt to stop the ball. It was an unsuccessful attempt and the ball went to the boundary. He soon got to a well-deserved half-century, off 39 balls. He had played some excellent shots early on, but the wickets of Smith and Handscomb had made him slow down a bit.
Tiwary was out soon after, holing out to Hardik Pandya off Bumrah for 57 off 45 balls. He had hit 4 fours and 2 sixes. MS Dhoni failed to get going, and was ultimately dismissed for a run-a-ball 24, caught by Rayudu off Bumrah. Thisara Perera and Rajat Bhatia did not do much at the end as RPS ended at a moderate 159 for 5.
Brief scores
Rising Pune Supergiants - 159/5 (Tiwary 57, Smith 45, Bumrah 3-29)
Mumbai Indians - 161/2 (Rohit 85*, Buttler 27*)
Result - Mumbai Indians won by 8 wickets
