IPL 6: RR vs PWI - Heroes of the Day

Pune Warriors broke their 11-match losing streak by defeating Rahul Dravid’s Rajasthan Royals in a resounding fashion at the Subrata Roy Stadium at Pune today. Allan Donald seemed to have done a huge favour for the side as the bowlers really seemed to have clicked together on a slow wicket against the experienced Royals batting line-up. Then the batsmen capitalized on the mistakes made by the erroneous bowling attack led by Indian pacer Sreesanth to give Pune their first win of the tournament. The heroes of today’s game are:

1. Aaron Finch (64 off 53 balls)

The big-hitting Australian batsman was yet to prove his credentials in the Indian Premier League and seemed to have been waiting with open hands to grab his chance. And when he got his opportunity to showcase his skills in the place of the injured Marlon Samuels, he quickly set the stage on fire. Finch got into business as early as the second over as he dispatched Sreesanth for a huge six. And as bowler after bowler came, the good ones were played on merit and the bad ones were punished with modern elegance to end up with a match-winning performance for the hosts.

2. Rahul Dravid (54 off 48 balls)

The only consolation from the RR side, Dravid played yet another fluent innings, demonstrating the importance of class and technique in the T20 format. Playing at his favourite No.3 position, Dravid was there to play the second ball of the match, joining Ajinkya Rahane in the middle. He taught a few lessons to the young Indian pacemen, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Ashok Dinda, playing some classic drives through the covers, reminding us of the young Dravid at Adeilade and Headingley. And when Uthappa was making easy work of the RR bowlers, Dravid brought some inspiration by pulling off a stunner off James Faulkner with reflexes as quick as a 19-year-old.

3. Rahul Sharma (4-0-16-2)

The lanky leg-spinner, who almost perished from the bigger picture after the drug episodes, bowled with good rhythm on the slow track. He bowled wicket to wicket, with accuracy, not allowing the batsmen to get on top of him. Sharma arrested the flow of runs and consumed the well-set Rahane and the innovative Dishant Yagnik with some clever bowling.

4. Robin Uthappa (32 off 16 balls)

The hard-hitting abilities of the wicket-keeper batsman seemed to have vanquished along with Pune’s form, before Harmeet Singh and Sreesanth made him realize his presence in the big league. First, Robbie dispatched young left-arm spinner Harmeet’s short-pitched deliveries in the mid-wicket region for a cluster of boundaries and then Sreesanth stepped up to boost his form. After Uthappa dismissed the first ball of his over for a six over mid-wicket, Sreesanth continued that with a no-ball and the free hit, that were hit for a four and six respectively.

5. James Faulkner (19*(14) and 4-0-17-2)

Faulkner made his IPL debut in the place of Shaun Tait, and came up with a stellar performance to prove his value in the shortest format. After he slogged Kumar to boost RR’s total, Faulkner turned out to be the only decent bowler for his side, giving away only 17 runs against the likes of Aaron Finch and Ross Taylor. Faulkner also took the wickets of Uthappa and Finch to save his side from an embarrassing defeat.