Pune Warriors registered their second consecutive victory in the IPL, managing to clinch a close game against the Kochi Tuskers Kerala by 6 wickets. iSporter Vipul Deshpande reviews the match.
Pune Warriors' bowlers repeated their stunning performance with the new ball, as Thomas picked up Brendon Mccullum on the first ball of the innings for a naught and Parnell knocked off Laxman's stumps in the very next over. In came skipper Jayawardhene, but even he couldn't do much with bat as he caught by Uthappa off Parnell, and Tuskers lost 3 wickets in as many overs. While wickets kept tumbling at one end, Parthiv Patel was fearlessly striking the bowlers, but even he fell prey to poor shot selection when he was on 21 (4 fours), leaving Kochi Tuskers in deep trouble at 24-4 in the 5th over.
The visiting team desperately needed a good partnership, and they got one in Ravindra Jadeja and Brad Hodge. Both of them played freely, especially Jadeja who top scored with 47 off just 33 deliveries (3 fours and 3 sixes). The pair added 88 for the 5th wicket. Rahul Sharma finally managed to provide a breakthrough for his team, dismissing Hodge for a well composed 39 (2 fours, 2 sixes). Gomez also played a sparkling cameo in the slog overs, smashing 26 off just 18 deliveries (3 fours), and the Warriors managed to reach a competitive total of 148-8. The total was quite good, considering the fact that they had lost 4 wickets in the first 5 overs itself.
In reply, Warriors got off to a flyer, as Jesse Ryder ripped apart the Kochi Tuskers' Bowling, only for a brief period though. He was undone by Vinay Kumar who took a brilliant catch off his own bowling, and thus providing his team some hope. Soon Jadeja, who was the star with the bat, caused more damaged to the Tuskers, this time with the ball, sending Graeme Smith back to the pavilion. Hodge joined the party, picking up two crucial wickets of Manhas and Yuvraj Singh in his two consecutive overs. It was on all upon the shoulders of crisis man Robin Uthappa and he looked to take away the match from the Tuskers very quickly, hitting 33(3 fours and 2 sixes) of just 13 deliveries, which brought down the required rate drastically, but when he was threatening to take his team home on his own, Murali produced his magic as he bowled Robin off a wonderful delivery and thus turning the match in Tuskers' favour once again, Warriors losing their fifth wicket when score read 115. Jadeja continued to trouble the home team, this time around with his brilliant throw to run out Parnell and suddenly Kochi Tuskers were smelling victory. However Monish Mishra had some other plans. The youngster played some outstanding shots, and brought his team on the brink of victory as they needed just 21 off in 15 balls. He was determined to finish the game himself, and he did that in style, hitting Murali for a boundary and two huge sixes to finish off the match in the penultimate over of the match and thus Warriors won the battle of new comers in the IPL, thanks to the outstanding team effort, especially Mishra who scored unbeaten 37 in just 21 balls which included 2 fours and 2 sixes
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