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New Delhi: In-form opener Ajinkya Rahane scored fifty half-century of the season to help Rising Pune Supergiants beat Delhi Daredevils by seven wickets at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium in Delhi on Thursday.
It was Pune's third victory in nine matches, while Delhi suffered their third defeat in eight games.
Rahane remained unbeaten on 63 off 48 balls, hitting a four to seal the chase, which included seven fours, whereas Imran Tahir finished with figures of two for 26 in his four overs for the hosts.
Chasing a competitive 163-run target, Rahane and Usman Khawaja gave Pune a solid start as they took the side to 50 for no loss after the Powerplay overs. Legspinner Amit Mishra then gave Delhi the first breakthrough when he dismissed Khawaja in the ninth over.
Khawaja scored 30 off 27 balls with the help of a six and two fours, before giving away a simple stumping chance to Sanju Samson. Rahane then guide Pune to 74/1 at the halfway stage of their chase.
Pune lost their second wicket after going past the 100 mark, when Sam Billings took a diving catch to dismiss Saurabh Tiwary off Tahir in the 14th over. Tiwary hit a six and a four in his 18-ball 21 cameo and added 45 runs with Rahane.
Rahane then reached his fifty off 38 balls to lead the run chase. Tahir and Mishra then bowled some tied overs in the middle, giving away just 20 runs during the 13-17 overs period to left Pune 37 runs shy of the target in the final three overs. Mishra finished with figures of one for 28 in four overs.
MS Dhoni hit a four and a six in consecutive balls off Mohammed Shami in the 18th to reduce the equation to 17 runs off 12 balls. Billings then took another stunning catch at deep mid-wicket to dismiss Dhoni, who scored 27 off 20 balls with the help of two sixes and a four, off Tahir.
Perera then hit two sixes off Tahir, who finished with 2/26, to leave Pune to score just three runs in the final over, which they achieved with five balls to spare.
Earlier, as many as five Delhi batsmen went past the twenty-run mark with stand-in skipper JP Duminy top-scoring with 34 to help the hosts post 162/7. Rajat Bhatia (2/22) and Scott Boland (2/31) were pick of the bowlers for Pune as they took two wickets apiece.
After skipper Dhoni chose to field, Ashok Dinda gave Pune an early breakthrough when he clean bowled Rishabh Pant in the third over. Karun Nair and Sanju Samson then steadied the Delhi innings with 35 runs for the second wicket, before Boland dismissed Samson in the sixth over.
Samson scored 20 off 17 balls with the help of three boundaries. Delhi lost another wicket soon, when Bhatia dismissed Nair in the tenth over.
Nair was going strong before finding Perera at sweeper cover as he scored 32 off 23 balls, which included five fours. Billings joined Duminy in the middle and revived the Delhi innings with some big shots as Delhi went past the 100-run mark in the 13th over.
Bhatia came back in the 15th over and gave Pune an important break when he dismissed Billings for 24. The English batsman hit two sixes and a four in his 15-ball 24 cameo and added a crucial 45 runs for the fourth wicket with his captain.
Carlos Brathwaite then took little time to settle down, but he didn't last long as he hit one straight to Perera at deep backward square leg off Boland in the 17th over. Brathwaite scored 20 off just eight balls, hitting three massive sixes, in his whirlwind knock.
Two run-outs in six balls left Delhi reeling at 143/7 after 17.5 overs. First, Duminy fell short of the crease while trying to steal a second run and in the next over, Saurabh Tiwary's direct hit sent Jayant Yadav back to the pavilion.
Pawan Negi, 19 not out off 12 balls, hit a six and a four in the final over off Dinda to make the total a competitive one.
Brief scores
Delhi Daredevils - 162/7 (Duminy 34, Nair 32, Bhatia 2-22, Boland 2-31)
Rising Pune Supergiants - 166/3 (Rahane 63*, Khawaja 30, Tahir 2-26)
Result - Rising Pune Supergiants won by 7 wickets (
