Ajinkya Rahane smashed 66 runs from just 42 balls to help the new franchise Rising Pune Supergiants to their first ever IPL victory at the Wankhede Stadium, Sunday. The defending champions were handed a drubbing by nine wickets in the opening game of the IPL 2016.
Mumbai Indians could only manage 121 for the loss of eight wickets after batting first on a wicket that was assisting the seamers right from the start.
In reply, the MS Dhoni-led Supergiants got those runs with 32 balls to spare -- courtesy -- a 78 run opening stand between Rahane and Faf du Plessis.
Dhoni praised Rahane's heroics with the willow at the post-match presentation ceremony and was happy with the way he finished things off in style.
"When you don't have too many runs on the board, the batsman have an easier job. Always felt Rahane is brilliant where the ball comes on off the wickets. He is traditional and the way he finished it off was very good," Dhoni was quoted as saying by Press Trust of India.
Dhoni was also impressed with the way his bowlers bowled during the powerplay overs as well as during the middle overs. He felt that the pressure kept on mounting on Mumbai Indians because they lost wickets at regular intervals. That is exactly where they lost the plot.
"I don't think we could have had a better start than this, A lot of credit to the bowlers, especially Rajat (Bhatia). He bowled in that uncomfortable area once they lost a lot of early wickets," Dhoni added.
As we all have known Dhoni over the years, he will want more improvement. He thinks the bowlers should bowl well in the death overs as well. Spuergiants bowlers leaked 41 runs in the last three overs and that was something the skipper did not like.
"The opposition also went hard, and on a wicket where the fast bowlers had assistance, there were chances. There was pressure on their lower order, but the bowlers did a fantastic job. We should improve in the death overs," Dhoni said.
