IPL 2017 - RPS vs MI as it happened: Steve Smith powers Rising Pune Supergiant to victory

Run-machine Steve Smith was magical with the bat as he led from the front with a 54-ball 84 to help RPS defeat MI in the second match of IPL 2017. Ajinkya Rahane also played a huge role in the win as the Indian player provided a solid start for the rest of the batsmen to capitalise and take the team to victory. RPS chased down the target (185 runs) in 19.5 overs. 

Mumbai Indians had done well with the bat to score 184, but their bowlers and fielders were not upto the mark against RPS, who have picked up their first points of IPL 2017. 

RPS win by seven wickets

11:42: Last over of the match: Dhoni hits it straight down the ground, too straight as he uproots the stump at the other end. Just one run from Smith, and RPS need 11 from 4 now. This is getting really close. 10 from 3. Smith, under pressure, delivers the goods, hits a long six, and RPS need 4 from 2, and Smith ends the match with a flick, and the ball sails into the crowd. 

RPS win with a ball to spare. 

11:35: Bumrah to Dhoni, and he just takes a single. He never rushes things. Smith with another single. Dot ball as Parthiv Patel goes up for caught behin, but to no avail. Two dot balls on a row from Bumrah to Dhoni. Good one from Bumrah, but MSD plays the pull shot, one bounce four. Southee drops Dhoni in the final ball of the over. RPS 172/3, 19 overs (Smith 71, Dhoni 10), require 13 runs from 6 balls

11:30: Dhoni plays a dot ball, first ball, and takes a single in the next delivery. Not a bad over from McClenaghan, who have conceded two runs from four balls. What will Dhoni do?  The right-hander takes a single, as he cannot split the gap in the off-side. Smith ends the over with a four, that was just a confident looking shot from the skipper. RPS 165/3, 18 overs (Smith 70, Dhoni 4), require 20 runs from 12 balls

11:26: Bumrah with a slower ball, and Smith again takes a single. RPS have this game in their bag unless they collapse. Two balls and teo singles. MI need wickets. Good fielding from Southee, who saves two runs in the deep as Smith takes a couple. Good over so far. Four balls, four runs. Smith just opens the face of the bat in the last moment to run it down to third man for a four. RPS 158/3, 17 overs (Smith 65, Dhoni 2), require 27 runs from 18 balls

11:22: Smith just takes a single, and there is loud roar as MS Dhoni is ready to face his first ball. The former skipper brings his pull shot out for a single. RPS 148/3, 16 overs (Smith 55, Dhoni 1), require 37 runs from 24 balls

11:14: Stokes welcomes H Pandya with a four as Pollard fails to stop the boundary despite the dive, but the left-hander is gone as he tries for a maximum in the next ball. RPS 143/3

11:12: RPS are looking good, and well on course for two points. Stokes unleashes a powerful drive towards the extra cover for four runs. He tries to hit another, but just does not strike the middle of the bat, one run only. Smith completes his 50 too. What a knock this has been. Smith takes another single. Stokes to face Southee, who bowls a slower ball for one run only. The last ball of the over is dot from Southee. RPS 139/2, 15 overs (Smith 52, Stokes 17), require 46 runs from 30 balls

11:07: Pollard to bowl now. Smith welcomes the West Indian with a four. Poor start from Pollard. Smith stays back, and the wrist does the talking for the Australian, who hits Pollard for a wonderful six.  RPS 129/2, 14 overs (Smith 49, Stokes 11), require 56 runs from 36 balls

11:02: McClenaghan to Smith, who is  beaten outside the off-stump. There was some bounce from the playing surface. Smith under pressure? He comes down the track and again fails to connect the ball. Pull shot to Smith's rescue as he powers that to the fence. The Australia bowls at Smith's hips, and with the short fine fielder in place, he hits the ball just past that position for a boundary. Rana drops Smith in the last ball. RPS 114/2, 13 overs (Smith 37, Stokes 9), require 71 runs from 42 balls

10:57: Bumrah to Stokes. This will be an interesting battle. The left-hander goes for a big shot, misses it completely as Bumrah bowls it short. He gets off strike as he takes a single in the off-side. Two runs from the first three balls, MI will be pleased with it, so far. Stokes plays the pull shot for a boundary in the mid-wicket fence. RPS105/2, 12 overs (Smith 28, Stokes 9), require 80 runs from 48 balls

10:52: Stokes walks onto bat. The left-hander has to provide good support to his captain, who is facing Southee. Smith goes hard at the ball, does not catch it clean. Wide, and still Smith makes contact, runs on a misfield. Stokes is beaten by Southee, but he opens his account with a couple. Those are his first IPL runs. RPS 97/2, 11 overs (Smith 26, Stokes 3 )

10:49: Rahane is gone. WICKET. Rahane pulls that, but the fielder in the deep takes a low catch. MI 93/2

10:48: K Pandya with his second over of the match. He starts with a faster one. Rahane chips the ball, and it is six. Pollard got his fonger tips to it, but fails to stop that from going over the ropes. H Pandya saves a boundary, only two runs to Smith, who hits it with power in the leg side. RPS 93/1, 10 overs (Rahane 60, Smith 25)

10:44: Besides their free scoring, they are running well between the wickets. Rahane pulls Pandya for a boundary to bring his 50 runs. RAHANE IS CLASS. SMith goes for a powerfull pull shot, but fails to make a solid contact. RPS 82/1, 9 overs (Rahane 52, Smith 22)

10:40: Spin into action. K Pandya with his left-arm, and he is taken for two runs in the sweeper cover area. Smith splits the gap in the off-side for runs, and this is great timing from the skipper. These two are making run-scoring look so easy. RPS  73/1, 8 overs (Rahane 44, Smith 21)

10:35: Rahane has been brilliant with the bat. He just needs to stay at the crease, runs will come. The first six overs have put RPS in firm control of the match. Rahane starts the over with a single. Pandey bowls it wide and Smith finds a fielder inside the 30 yards circle. Azhar-like or Laxman-like wristy shot for a single from Smith. RPS  63/1, 7 overs (Rahane 43, Smith 12)

10:30: Smith, and that sound from his bat was too good. It had four written all over it. He powered that ball towards the fence in no time. Now, it is Rahane, who just throws his hand at the ball, brillaint example of hand-eye coordination and it is six from Rahane, who glides the ball to the third man for another boundary.  RPS are on song right now, and MI need to break this partnership. RPS  59/1, 6 overs (Rahane 41, Smith 10)

10:25: Jasprit Bumrah to Rahane, who hits a lovely straight drive, and Pollard dives to save three runs as the Indian batsman takes one run. Good cricket all round. Rahane is looking in great shape. Tighjt bowling from Bumrah. Three runs from four balls, and one run in the next two balls. RPS 43/1, 5 overs (Rahane 30, Smith 5)

10:19: Run-machine Steve Smith is at the batting crease. This partnership will be crucial. Smith has just faced two balls, middled both of them and he looks confident. He opens his account, and Rahane gives the strike back to the Australian, who takes a couple.  RPS 39/1, 4 overs (Rahane 28, Smith 3)

10:16: Mayank Agarwal is gone. WICKET. Mitchell McClenaghan removes the opener in his first ball.RPS 35/1

10:15: Rahane plays on the up, but the fielder in mid-off does well to stop. Rahane plays the pull shot for a six. This is lovely from Rahane, who follows it with a wonderful straight drive for a four. It was kind of a half shot. He glides the ball to third man, a bit uppish, for a single. RPS 35/0, 3 overs (Rahane 27, Agarwal 6)

10:10: Rahane, you beauty. He is a traditional player, not someone, who uses power, just relies on his timing. He opens the bat slightly for a boundary, and edges the ball next for another four. Eight runs from the first two balls. Rahane is looking in good touch, hits the third four of the over, wonderful four over cover. Majestic, I say. RPS 23/0, 2 overs (Rahane 16, Agarwal 5)

10:05: Ajinkya Rahane and Mayank Agarwal will open the batting for RPS, who will want their openers to fire in the first six overs. Southee to open the bowling for MI. Rahane does not take much time to get off the mark, first ball single it is. Agarwal edges the ball, and he is lucky, four runs, all because MI had a second slip, no first slip, else it could have been first-ball duck for the right-hander. RPS 8/0, 1 over (Rahane 2, Agarwal 5)

Now, 185 will not be an easy task for RPS, who were undone by Pandya's late heroics in the final over. The second half is going to be interesting, I bet. 

See you in a while. RPS need 185 runs to win

9:45: Pandya hits Dinda for a wonderful six in the off-side in the first ball of the last over. Another six, Pandya is making it count. WOW.. Three sixes in the over from Pandya, who strikes it down the ground. Fortune favours the brave as an edge also produces another four. 6, 6, 6, 4 runs in the first four balls. What next? Just incredible from Pandya, who uses his muscle for another six. This was not a bad ball. WIDE ball, and Southee is run out. 

Pandya misses a full toss, and the pair completes a single in the last legal ball. MI 184/8 in 20 overs. 

9:38: Three balls and just two runs and a wicket, that too of the danger man Pollard. Pandya steers the ball in the sweeper cover area for one run only. RPS will take this, and Stokes bowls a dot as new batsman Tim Southee goes for a wild shot. The New Zealander snds Stokes' spell with a six. That was as straight as it can get. MI 154/7, 19 overs (H Pandya 7, Southee 7 )

9:33: Stokes to Pandya, who strikes it hard to long off. Just one run. CATCH OF THE SEAON?? POllard strikes it with power, and Agarwal dives low to dismiss the West Indian. BIG WICKET. MI 146/7

9:31: Pollard has to strike it big in the last three overs. He needs solid support from Pandya at the other end. Another 35 plus runs could make it interesting. Dinda starts the over with a dot to Pandya, who scampers for a single in the next ball. All eyes on Pollard. Can he hit another six? Pollard edges the ball, but Dhoni cannot latch onto that low catch. Pollard takes a single as Dinda digs it deep. Wide from Dinda, and there are four balls remianing in the over. Full toss from Dinda, and Pandya cannot make full use of it. The last ball of the 18th over goes for a four, healthy edge from Pollard.  MI 145/6, 18 overs (Pollard 27, H Pandya 5)

9:25: MI are in serious need of a partnership. Pollard and Pandya have to stay till the 20th over of the match to allow the visitors a good total. Pollard drills a flat six, straight down the ground. Can it get any flatter than this? Tahir ends his wonderful spell with a dot ball. His three wickets could well help him get the MOM award. MI 137/6, 17 overs (Pollard 22, H Pandya  3)

9:22:  The last ball of the over is also hit straight by Pollard, but just one run. MI 127/6, 16 overs (Pollard 14, H Pandya 1)

9:18: All along the carpet from Pollard as Zampa is hit straight down the ground for a four. That is Pollard and his power for you as the right-hander gives the strike to Rana, who is in good form. The left-hander strikes it clean, but he picks the fielder in the deep for an easy catch. WICKET. MI 125/6. 

9:15: Pollard hits it straight down the ground, against Tahir for a boundary. The West Indian survives a close LBW appeal, and he is lucky to be there facing Tahir, who is taken for a single. Rana is playing it quite easy. MI are struggling against Tahir, who is taken for a single in the last ball of the over. MI 120/5, 15 overs (Rana 34, Pollard 8)

9:11: Bhatia proving it -  you just need to bowl in the right areas. Pollard walks into bat. He will play an important role now. He plays the ball with a straight bat for a single. The batsmen have to come at Bhatia hard if they want to score runs. He does not offer the pace to work around with. MI 111/5, 14 overs (Rana 31, Pollard 2)

9:08: Rana brings out his slog sweep against Bhatia, but Stokes does well in the boundary to save three runs, and Krunal is gone, top edges the ball. WICKET...MI 107/5

9:07: Stokes starts with wide. Lovely shot. Stokes bowls it short, and Rana send it back to the crowd for maximim runs. Rana has looked good, scoring runs at a decent rate. Four balls and 10 runs so far. The last two balls - one run only. MI 106/4, 13 overs (Rana 28, Pandya 3)

9:03: MI need some good partnership. Krunal Pandya walks in. Two left-handers at the crease. Bhatia is bowling well, mixing it well smartly. MI 95/4, 12 overs (Rana 20, Pandya 2) 

8:59: Bhatia strikes as Rayudu gives him an easy catch back. WICKET. MI 92/4

8:58: Rayudu goes down in his knees, but does not connect well, leg bye. It is all singles now, as Rana takes an easy run. Rana tries to hit Zampa out of the ground, but just two runs. Googly from Zampa, who is helped towards the long leg area for a four. MI 92/3, 11 overs (Rana 19, Rayudu 10)

8:53: Rajat Bhatia on for RPS and the slow medium is taken for a single in the first ball by Rana. Rayudu does the same, takes a single in the long off area. It is not easy to score freely against Bhatia, who bowls it really slow, and stump to stump. Inside out from Rayudu and there is couple for the taking. No boundaries, so a good over. MI 82/3, 10 overs (Rana 12, Rayudu 9)

8:47: One leggie replaces another. Zampa replaces Tahir. Rayudu starts the over with a single. He has already bowled a googly too. Rana executes a lovely shot, and it goes over the mid-wicket fence for a six, follows that with a single. Good batting from Rana. MI 76/3, 9 overs (Rana 10, Rayudu 5)

8:41: Ambati Rayudu  goes for a suicidal run, and Steve Smith fails to run out the right-hander. One run. What is the need for MI to go for such risky run? Again, Rayudu. What the hell is he thinking? He goes for a wild shot. Last ball of the over and Rana is beaten outside the off-stump. MI 66/3, 8 overs (Rana 2, Rayudu 3)

8:40: Tahir is on song. Rana comes to bat, and opens his account with a straight drive. Tahir is enjoying his spell as he traps Buttler leg before. OH, WAIT, replays suggest Buttler had hit the ball. WICKET. MI 63/3

8:36: Tahir with his second over, and the wicket-taker has bowled two dot balls. The leggie dismisses, clean bowled. WICKET. MI 61/2

8:32: Chahar is back. Rohit slashes hard, and he manages a single, in the third man area. Buttler plays two dot balls. Quite rare, considering Buttler being in great form. Buttler makes room, and the result - go and pick the ball from the fence. The same happens in the next ball, even better, times it for a six. MI 61/1, 6 overs (Buttler 38, Rohit 3)

8:28: The hitman is in the middle. Rohit opens his account with a single. Will Buttler attack Tahir? No, he stays back, and hits him straight back for a single. Seven runs and a wicket from the over. MI 48/1, 5 overs (Buttler 25, Rohit 2)

8:24: Smith to use his trump card, could be, Imran Tahir, who is swept by Parthiv for a first ball four. Welcome Imran, but he gets his man in the next ball. BOWLED. WICKET. MI 45/1 (Parthiv)

8:22: Ben Stokes to Patel, who drops the ball and runs for a single. Buttler in strike now, and it is Englishman vs Englishman. This is what IPL brings to the table. Buttler comes down the track, and hit him out of the park, fails to hit the middle. He stays back at the crease next and Buttler hits the bowler for a six. Buttler is winning the battle as he hits another six. This is incredible, ramp shot behind the keeper. MI 41/0, 4 overs (Parthiv 15, Buttler 25)

8:18: The intent is clear from MI. They want to make use of the first six overs as Patel just picks up the length and smacks the ball for another boundary. Full from Dinda and Patel times it to perfection, but straight to the fielder. Straight drive, and another boundary from Patel, who is dropped in the third man region in the last ball of the over. MI 28/0, 3 overs (Parthiv 14 , Buttler 13 )

8:14: Deepak Chahar to Buttler, who pulls the ball for a boundary. Buttler shuffles at the crease, moves towards the leg side, and he glides the ball for another four. This is good start from MI. Two boundaries from the over, and Chahar finishes well. MI 19/0, 2 overs (Parthiv 5 , Buttler 13 )

8:07: Ashok Dinda to start proceedings for RPS, and Parthiv is set for strike, and the pacer starts with a wide. There is some swing in the offing. Parthiv opens his account with a single, flicks the ball off the hips. Quick single, next, and there is overthrow, five runs to Buttler. Patel glances the ball for another boundary. MI 11/0, 1 over (Parthiv 5 , Buttler 5 )

8 pm: Parthiv Patel and Jos Buttler will open the batting for Mumbai Indians. They are there in the middle, and the RPS fielders are also in position, and umpire calls play....HERE WE GO.....

Surprise, Rohit is not opening the innings. 

7:50: Looking at both the teams, Mumbai Indians look strong in all departments while RPS have a strong batting line-up. However, one knows that the game of cricket is not played on a sheet of paper. Rohit will hold the key for Mumbai in this clash.

7:45: TEAM NEWS

RPS: Steve Smith (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Mayank Agarwal, Manoj Tiwary, MS Dhoni (wk), Ben Stokes, Rajat Bhatia, Deepak Chahar, Adam Zampa, Imran Tahir, Ankit Sharma and Ashok Dinda.

Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (c), Parthiv Patel (wk), Ambati Rayudu, Jos Buttler (wk), Kieron Pollard, Nitish Rana, Krunal Pandya, Hardik Pandya, Tim Southee, Mitchell McClenaghan and Jasprit Bumrah.

7:35: TOSS TIME: Steve Smith wins the toss, and he wants RPS to bowl. The pitch looks a bit green, and it might help the RPS bowlers. Mumbai Indians will need to be careful with the bat, at least in the first six overs. 

7:28: For those, who have started to follow the IPL for the first time, here is some important information you may want to know. 

If you are seriously making your IPL debut  (watching) on front of your tele, I want to ask, where were you on this earth when the IPL was taking centrestage for the last seven years?

7:10: With the opening ceremony coming to an end, we can talk cricket, ONLY cricket. Mumbai Indians have been one of the best teams in the IPL so far, winning the competition twice while RPS are just into their second season, but this derby will always be interesting.

Dhoni fans, brace yourselves for an epic IPL. I have a feeling that the former RPS captain, without the skipper arm band, could play fearless cricket, and that is when you can see him in BEAST mode. 

7 pm: As of now, the second opening ceremony of the IPL 2017 in Pune is going on. Bollywood star Riteish Deshmukh is perfming on the stage, showing some of his dancing skills. 

The two captains were also present in the platform, earlier, where Rohit was handed a memorabilia by Smith. 

Welcome to International Business Times, India (@ibtimes_india) live blog coverage of the Maharashtra derby, featuring Rising Pune Supergiant and Mumbai Indians. I, Ashim Sunam (@ashim_sport ), will bring you all the happenings from the match, which should be a run-feast in Pune.

Steve Smith replaced MS Dhoni as RPS captain while Rohit Sharma will captain MI in the second match of the IPL. After some quality batting display in the opening match of the IPL, one can expect some major blitzkrieg in Pune.

Are you ready for the fireworks from the likes of Kieron Pollard, Rohit, MS Dhoni, and Ben Stokes? Runs, runs, runs - that should be the flavour of the night in Pune.

RPS vs MI – who are you supporting? 

MI 137/6, 17 overs (Pollard 22, H Pandya  3)