5 memorable moments from the SRH-RPS match that don't fade away

Rain, rain, washed the game, and saved us from more sleepless minutes. As Rising Pune Supergiants looked to pick themselves up from 4 losses in a row, Sunrisers Hyderabad were hoping to continue their high-flying form by beating their downbeat rivals.

Initially, rain threatened to wash the game off. But after a delayed start, SRH were clueless about how to face the swing of Dinda and co. In the end, they were bundled for 118 and it was an easy win for the Pune boys, who were gallantly taken forward by Steven Smith.

Despite a rain-curtailed match, there were plenty of memorable moments that don't fade away, quite like the Axe signature range of body perfumes. Here are 5 of the best:

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Dashing Dinda

Just by looking at his bowling action, people get excited. The enthusiastic run-up followed by a jump that would actually get him across the Great Wall of China; he is just fun to watch, even though he might not be as effective a bowler as one would like.

However, today, he turned out to be the luck charm for MS Dhoni—the one who helped RPSG out of the dire mess they were in.

He started off tremendously by taking David Warner’s wicket in the first over. His rollicking start absolutely devastated the SRH batting line up as they bundled out for less than 120. He finished with astounding figures of 23/2 after 4 overs.

Dhawan’s resistance

Off late, Shikhar Dhawan has been completely out of touch. After a disastrous Asia Cup and World T20, he started the IPL just as atrociously, but he is now on a rise—and could consolidate his place in the Indian team even more.

Dhawan has had a couple of brilliant matches and could make his return to the Indian team. He has put his name in the hat alongside Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa and the trio will make the selectors think hard.

At a time when everyone around him were falling like a house of cards, he stood there and helped his team avoid embarrassment by steering them to a score of 118. He himself made 56 of those runs and stayed there till the very end.

Bhuvi’s all-round effort

When Bhuvaneshwar Kumar’s name is mentioned, one can safely assume that it is for his bowling that he makes it to front. However, he is here today for his destructive hitting at the very end.

He shamed his fellow batsmen by showing how to do it with the bat. In a brisk innings that lasted for only 8 balls, he scored 21 runs and did something that seemed impossible at one stage: taking SRH over the 100 runs barrier.

However, he wasn't done as he bowled a maiden wicket in the first over of the match. In the end, however, it wasn’t enough, but it still gave them some hope when it was needed.

Steven Smith hitting form

This tournament was becoming somewhat of a nightmare for the Australian, until today. After a tough start, he has finally picked up form against Sunrisers Hyderabad.

The platform was perfect for him as the score was as low as 118. And so he came in and batted as freely as he could. He took apart the best bowler of the tournament so far - Mustafizur Rahman, and coasted his innings to a quick 46 off 36.

In the end, he couldn’t get his 50, due to rain playing spoilsport, but this is good news for Pune.

Nehrajee Namaste moment

After coming back from injury, SRH fans were hopeful—after all, India’s most economic bowler of the T20 World Cup was back to add to the already strong line up of Mustafiz and Bhuvi.

However, he started off poorly by giving away extras—he actually finished with 5 wides to his name—but he ended up in style, in the perfect Nehra-jee way.

After getting the wicket of MS Dhoni, he, out of utmost politeness, asked the umpire’s approval—and the umpire obliged. After that he did a Namaste gesture to the official—in an act that oozed the ‘sanskari’ side of Nehra.