Half-centuries from MS Dhoni and Rahul Tripathi set up Rising Pune Supergiant for a six-wicket victory over defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League on Saturday.
Chasing a target of 177 to win, opener Tripathi got the innings off to a rapid start with 59 off 41 balls as he struck six boundaries and three sixes as part of a stand of 72 with captain Steve Smith (27).
Though both Tripathi and Smith fell, Dhoni took centre stage as he finished unbeaten on 61 off 34 balls, with five boundaries and three sixes in his innings.
Pune had needed two to win off the final ball, but Dhoni held his nerve as he drilled a delivery from Siddarth Kaul to the boundary to see them home on 179-4.
Earlier, Moises Henriques had top-scored for Hyderabad as they made 176-3 in their 20 overs.
His innings, which came off 28 balls, came after captain David Warner had earlier made 43 off 40 balls.
Meanwhile, in yesterday’s other game, Mumbai Indians moved four points clear at the top of the standings as they claimed a sixth victory in seven games.
They proved too good for Delhi Daredevils as they triumphed by 14 runs.
Mumbai had made only 142-8 in their 20 overs, with their top order struggling after an early flurry of runs from opener Jos Buttler (28 off 18 balls).
At 84-5 the innings was wobbling, but solid contributions from Kieron Pollard (26) and Hardik Pandya (24) got them up to a competitive total, with Amit Mishra (2-18) and Pat Cummins (2-20) both bowling tight spells for Delhi.
The match looked set for a quick finish when Delhi collapsed to 24-6 in reply with Mitchell McClenaghan (3-24) doing the damage with the ball.
But Delhi rallied as a seventh-wicket stand of 91 between Chris Morris (52 not out) and Kagiso Rabada (44) gave them hope.
Rabada fell in the penultimate over, and with Delhi always behind the run-rate, they fell short on 128-7.
Today’s action begins at 2.30pm UAE time with Gujarat Lions going up against Kings XI Punjab, before Kolkata Knight Riders play host to Royal Challengers Bangalore at 6.30pm.
* The National staff
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