Rising Pune Supergiants thrashed Sunrisers Hyderabad by 34 runs by the Duckworth-Lewis method at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Tuesday. After the start of play was delayed by an hour because of rain, the visitors used the favourable conditions to restrict Hyderabad to a paltry 118/8. They were well on their way to chasing it down at 94/3 after 11 overs, when rain stopped play and they were declared winners. The win, their first in five matches, lifted Pune from seventh in the table to the sixth position.
Pune skipper MS Dhoni had no hesitation bowling first after winning the toss. Prior to this match, 17 out of 21 games this season had been won by the chasing team. Hyderabad got off to a horrible start, with captain David Warner being dismissed for a duck in the very first over and the hosts never recovered. They lost their first five wickets for just 32 runs, before wicketkeeper-batsman Naman Ojha (18) stitched together a 47-run partnership with Shikhar Dhawan (56 not out).
Dhawan carried his bat, with Bhuvneshwar Kumar also playing a late cameo (21 off eight balls), but the hosts could only manage 118/8 in 20 overs. Ashok Dinda (3/23) and Mitchell Marsh (2/14) were the pick of the bowlers for Pune.
Hyderabad were buoyed by the fall of Pune opener Ajinkya Rahane in the very first over of the chase, but Faf du Plessis (30 off 21 balls) and Steven Smith (46 not out off 36 balls) took the game away from the hosts.
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