As far as the IPL is concerned, tomorrow we have the Kolkata Knight Riders taking on the Delhi Daredevils at the Eden Gardens. The match begins at 8:00 PM (IST) and Sportskeeda's live coverage for the match starts at 6:30 PM (IST). We hope to have your company for that! Till then, it's goodbye and goodnight!
So, RPSG make a cake walk of their opener against the Mumbai Indians and would take a lot of confidence from this win. On the other hand, MI would look to bounce back and display an improved batting and bowling performance in their next game against the Kolkata Knight Riders.
"I felt that it was important to time the ball, as the ball was stopping a bit. Track was slightly two paced. Generally it is a good batting surface, but today the ball was stopping a bit," says Rahane. "This win was very important for us going into tournament. The experience in the line-up in MS Dhoni, Kevin Pietersen, and Steve Smith is also very important to us," Rahane adds.
"I don't think we could have had a better start than this. Credit to the bowlers to bowled extremely well. Especially Rajat, who is not express but bowls wicket to wicket," says the winning captain MS Dhoni. "The job of the batsmen was easy, but at the same time, Rahane and Faf played really well. Rahane is player to plays traditional shots. He doesn't play unorthodox shots. It is good that he stayed till the end."
"We didn't bat well. 120 would never be enough on this wicket. There is a lot to learn from this game. We'll come back with a positive frame of mind," says MI captain Rohit Sharma. "Our shot selection wasn't great. We don't want to panic so early, and would think about what to do as a team in the future matches," he adds.
It wasn't a huge target but the clinical nature of the way Pune finished things off will please MS Dhoni. Ajinkya Rahane continued his good form from Rajasthan to Pune and although all three batsmen got amongst the runs, it was the bowlers that scripted the comfortable victory.
14.4 Pandya to Ajinkya Rahane, SIX! RPSG win! That was a short ball outside off and Rahane played a beautiful uppercut over the keeper's head that sailed over for a six to finish things off for Pune!
14.2 Pandya to Ajinkya Rahane, SIX! Hit on the up towards long on for another six! He just pulled the short ball over the head of mid-on this time. That was a cross batted swat!
13.1 Harbhajan to Kevin Pietersen, SIX! That was brutally hit over long on for another six! It wasn't too short but KP just launched into that one over wide long-on.
