Smith, Rahane propel Pune to victory over Mumbai

Pune, April 6: Rising Pune Supergiants rode on superb batting by captain Steven Smith and Ajinkya Rahane to defeat Mumbai Indians by seven wickets in the second game of the 2017 Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium here on Thursday.
Chasing a target of 185, Pune crossed the line with just one ball to spare.
The hosts had started their chase on a strong note, scoring at more than 10 runs an over in the initial stages before Mayank Agarwal was dismissed by Mitchell McCleghan.
Smith then joined Rahane in the middle and the duo added 58 runs in the space of seven overs to lay the foundation of a successful run chase.
Rahane scored 60 runs off 34 balls with six boundaries and three hits into the stands. He was filly dismissed when Nitish Ra pulled off an excellent catch at deep square leg off the bowling of Tim Southee.
Smith, however, continued in the same vein and remained unbeaten on 84 runs off a mere 54 deliveries. His innings included seven boundaries and three sixes. Fittingly, it was he only who brought up the winning runs with two consecutive sixes off Kieron Pollard in the fil over.
For Mumbai, Southee, Hardik Pandya and McCleghan bagged a wicket each. IANS