The second game of the Indian Premier League, which is in its tenth edition, saw heavyweights Mumbai Indians take on Rising Pune Supergiant in Pune on Thursday. The match saw Australia captain Steve Smith take charge of Pune for the first time. It also saw the return of Rohit Sharma, who is trying to stage a comeback into the Indian cricket team after a leg injury. Ashok Dinda was smashed for 30 runs in the final over thanks to Hardik Pandya. It was also the first time Mumbai lost a match after posting a total in the excess of 184.
Here are some stats from a match that had it all.
Dhoni debuts as just a player
After nine seasons, Dhoni had a first in the IPL. For the first time in 144 matches, Dhoni was not captaining an IPL team. He was captain of the two-time champions Chennai Super Kings, who have since been suspended until the end of this season. He also led the Pune side last season. However, this season, Smith was made given charge of the team and the Australian led Pune to a win in his first game as captain.
Dinda’s records to forget
For a majority of Mumbai’s innings, Pune were looking at a target of around 160 to chase as they were taking wickets at regular intervals. However, when Smith handed the ball to Ashok Dinda in the 20th over, little did he expect that he would have to chase a target in the excess of 180. Dinda was hammered for 30 runs by Hardik Pandya, who sent him over the fence four times. He smashed three sixes and a four, and to make matters worse, Dinda bowled a wide delivery next. Thirty runs were conceded – the most by any bowler in the 20th over in the IPL. The previous record was 27 on two occasions – by David Hussey (KXIP vs MI in 2013) and Rahul Shukla (DD vs RCB in 2014).
If not for Smith’s and Rahane’s knocks, the match would have been remembered for Dinda’s most expensive over. This was the third time the Bengal pacer conceded 25 runs or more in one over in the IPL – the most such occasions for any bowler. Amit Mishra, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel and Sandeep Sharma have suffered on two occasions each. This was also Dinda’s fourth match in which he conceded 50 or more runs in an IPL match – most by any bowler.
A first for Mumbai
Mumbai have always been known for their batting unit and on Thursday when they reached 184, they would have fancied their chances of an easy win. They had a noteworthy record of never losing matches when they scored an excess of 184 in the first innings. However, Pune finally broke the record when they chased the target down with ease. This was Mumbai’s highest first-innings total they have failed to defend in IPL.