Pune Warriors defeat Kochi Tuskers Kerala: Second innings report / Analysis of the match

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Pune Warriors defeat Kochi Tuskers Kerala: Second innings report /Analysis of the match

The Pune Warriors beat the Kochi Tuskers Kerala by four wickets, in a thrilling Indian Premier League encounter played at the Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, Mumbai.

Both teams, featuring for the first time in the lucrative league have much to prove before considering themselves as good, as the rest of the teams in the tournament.

The match was perhaps the best fought out clash in the tournament so far, as the Pune Warriors pulled-off a victory out of nowhere. Having Mahela Jayawardene’s Kochi restricted to a total of 148 runs, the Warriors must have hoped for an easy win, however,
with the likes of Muttiah Muralitharan and Shanthakumaran Sreesanth bowling at the other end, no victory could come easily.

The Pune side did not get off to an impressive start, after opener Jesse Ryder was caught and bowled splendidly by Vinay Kumar. The Warriors suffered another loss as opener Graeme Smith was the next to fall after scoring 24 runs off 24 delivers. On the second
delivery of the 12th over, Yuvraj Singh also departed as he hit a faint edge to wicket-keeper Parthiv Patel.

This was a bleak moment for Pune, as their hopes for a victory seemed to be fading away. However, Robin Uthappa and Mohnish Mishra had other things in mind and the pair setup a match-winning stand for their team. Uthappa scored a fast thirty-one runs before
he was bowled by legendary spinner Muralitharan. His innings included three boundaries and two glorious sixes.

On the other hand, Mishra made sure that he was able to guide his team victory. The right-hand batsman paced his innings very well, scoring at a perfect rate to keep the target within striking range. Mishra’s 37 runs were enough for the Pune Warriors to
register a win against Kochi.

Mishra was awarded the Man of the Match award, after his gem of an innings lifted his side to victory. Despite Pune’s victory, Skipper Yuvraj Singh has a lot of thinking to do and stamp out his side’s shortcomings, if they want to proceed in the later stages
of the league.

Earlier, after winning the toss Jayawardene elected to bat but openers Brendon McCullum and VVS Laxman were dismissed without scoring, putting their side into deep trouble. Ravindra Jadeja was the highest scorer from his side as he played an impressive knock
of 47 runs. Australian Brad Hodge remained the second highest scorer, by adding 39 runs to the total.

The rest of the batsmen failed to show any dominance against the opposition. Jayawardene and the Kochi team management have to do some serious planning, before coming to play in their next match. With the tournament in its’ initial stage, the IPL is evenly
poised at the moment, with all sides looking to find form as the tournament proceeds.



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