That’s the end of this year’s Indian Premier League and Mumbai Indians ended up winning the tournament for the third time after a nail-biting encounter to beat the Rising Pune Supergiant.
Pune’s intent was clear from the very beginning as they roared in with their no-nonsense approach and tormented the Mumbai Indians’ batsmen from the very beginning. Such was the plight of Rohit Sharma and co. that the Indians were perhaps regretting their decision to bat first at the break.
With the help of Krunal Pandya’s valiant innings late in the order, Mumbai Indians made a late recovery and managed to post a total of 129 runs in 20 overs. In response, Pune could have comfortably finished the game, but played it too safe and had to pay for it in the end.
Here are 5 memorable moments from the match that don't fade away, quite like the Axe Signature range of body perfumes:
#1 Jaydev Unadkat starts with a bang
Playing against Mumbai in the final is always a difficult task since they have the experience of winning the title – and that too twice. In order to get the better of the Indians, striking down their batting order holds the fundamental spot for the opposition since their bowling unit is an extraordinary one, capable of defending the lowest of targets.
That is precisely what Jaydev Unadkat did as his bowling left Mumbai Indians’ batting in tatters. Unadkat, in his 4 over spell, took the wickets of openers Lendl Simmons and Parthiv Patel in the space of 3 balls and ended by giving away only 19 runs!
#2 Washington Sundar’s underrated spell
If the guy’s name wasn’t beautiful enough (pun intended), his spell against the Mumbai Indians was the epitome of elegance. Sundar’s spell won’t be talked of in the same breath as that of Unadkat’s, but it was, perhaps, of equal importance.
The teenager, who is playing in his first ever Indian Premier League season, didn’t manage to pick up any wickets—which was unfortunate—but his superb display of bowling at tight lines and lengths didn’t allow the batsmen to score freely against him.
In the end, he gave away only 13 runs in his 4 overs against one of the most attacking teams in the league.
#3 Krunal Pandya saves some pride
At one point, it felt as though the Mumbai Indians wouldn’t be able to reach the 3-digit mark. However, all those fears were swayed aside by the elder Pandya brother. It is amazing how consistently he performs in the IPL and yet gets overlooked by the Indian selectors time and again.
When none of the other batsmen could get a look in against the wrath of Pune’s bowling, Krunal Pandya stuck in and managed to score 47 of 38 balls, hitting three fours and two sixes in the process. His innings allowed his team to set the required run rate above 6 runs per over.
Despite having a hard time to score runs at the beginning of the innings, he showed that real character and temperament when he fought his way through till the end.
#4 Rahane’s perfect platform
The one thing Ajinkya Rahane is always accused of is batting too slowly for T20 games. The general consensus among fans is that an opener in the shortest version of the game has to have the attacking prowess to give his team a blazing start, but Rahane is the complete antonym of the stereotype.
However, tonight’s chase was just the perfect platform for him to showcase his abilities. Rahane is a sheet-anchor and given that the score was under 130, this was his yard—and he grabbed the opportunity with both hands.
Playing the typical Rahane innings, he smashed 5 elegant boundaries to score 44 off just 38 balls to give his team the base on which they could finish the chase, but they fell short because of an…
#5 Epic final over from Johnson
Wow! What a final over! The match and the title seemed destined for Pune as they were cruising towards the win at one point. However, after some brilliant death over bowling from every Mumbai bowlers, it was all down to Mitchell Johnson defending 11 runs in the last over.
The over started terribly for the Indians as they conceded a boundary in the very first ball. However, two wickets in the next two balls removed Manoj Tiwary and captain Steven Smith and the match as now in Mumbai’s favour.
They took full advantage of it as the next three balls consisted of a bye run, a double and a run-out to give Mumbai a one-run win and their third IPL title.
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