Mumbai Indians (MI) vs Rising Pune Supergiants (RPS), IPL 2016, Highlights: Ajinkya Rahane's Unbeaten Fifty Helps MS Dhoni Led Pune Outclass Mumbai In Opener

Mumbai Indians stuttered to a below-par score at the Wankhede Stadium in the opening match of the Indian Premier League season 9, following the exploits of Ishant Sharma, Mitchell Marsh and Rajat Bhatia. Ajinkya Rahane and Faf du Plessis then made light work of Mumbai's bowling as Pune won their first ever IPL match by nine wickets. Catch all the highlights here (SCORECARD | NEWS | PHOTOS | POINTS TABLE | VIDEOS)

Ajinkya Rahane (Man of the Match): "I felt that it was important to time the ball. It was stopping a bit so it was important for me to take some time early on and finish the job. The track was two paced, not what we normally get at the Wankhede. In the first six overs, the ball was doing a lot. They are all world class players [talking about his teammates]. All match-winners and we try to learn things from them."

MS Dhoni (RPS skipper): "I don't think we could have had a better start. Credit to the bowlers. Yes the pitch had a bit in it for the fast bowlers but they stuck to their lines. Once they were a few wickets down, they had to change their tactics which played to our advantage." 

Rohit Sharma (MI skipper): "Pitch looked okay. We didn't bat well to be honest. 121 is never going to be enough against a batting lineup like Pune. Lot to learn from this game. Hopefully we'll go back and come with a positive frame of mind." 

22:58 hrs IST: And that's the end. Rahane finishes it off with a six as Pune thrash defending Champions Mumbai by 9 wickets with 32 balls to spare.

Rising Pune Supergiants player Ajinkya Rahane raises his bat after scoring a fifty.

© BCCI

22:50 hrs IST: Fifty for Rahane, the first one of the IPL 9 and that too a real classy one. Well played Jinx!!!!!

22:48 hrs IST: SIX!!!!! Kevin Pietersen hits a colossal one over long-on. Pune now need 26 runs in 48 balls. 

22:39 hrs IST: OUT!!!! Harbhajan Singh gets his first. Faf du Plessis tries to play a sweep but misses it by the lack of pace on it and as a result, the ball hits the stumps. Pune are 78/1 after 9.4 overs.  

22:36 hrs IST: FOUR!! Rahane plays a gentle drive down the ground to take his score to 39. Pune are 76/0 after 9 overs. 

22:32 hrs IST: Pune moving towards the target steadily. An easy win looks very much on the cards for them now!  

22:26 hrs IST: A wide and a single off the final ball. Pune are 61/0 after 7 overs.

22:23 hrs IST: Good start by Vinay Kumar. Two off the first five balls.

22:22 hrs IST: Rahane has moved onto 31 off 20 balls while Du Plessis is 26 off 19.

22:21 hrs IST: Six!! Consecutive sixes for the South African. He comes down the track and Bumrah digs it in short, Du Plessis manages to get a top edge and the ball sails over the third man boundary. Pune are 57/0 after 6 overs.

22:15 hrs IST: Six!! Du Plessis gets down on his knees and smashes Bumrah on a free hit over the cover boundary.

22:14 hrs IST: Dot ball to finish the over. 14 off that over. Pune are 37/0 after 5 overs.

22:13 hrs IST: Six!! Du Plessis gets into the act now. The South African comes down the track and deposits McClenaghan over the long ob boundary.

22:12 hrs IST: Six!! Short from McClenaghan and Rahane gets enough bat for the ball to sail over the backward square leg fielder. Rahane is going great guns here while Du Plessis is holding the other end up.

22:11 hrs IST: Four!! Rahane somehow found room to cut that ball and get himself another boundary. Pune are 23/0 after 4 overs.

22:10 hrs IST: Bumrah starts the fourth over with three dot balls.

21:59 IST: Faf du Plessis gets lucky!!!!!!! He plays an incoming delivery from Jasprit Bumrah away from the body and gets a thick inside edge. Ball just misses the stumps by inches!!!! Pune are 12/0 after 1.2 overs. 

21:55 IST: FOUR!!! Rahane scores the first boundary of the Pune's innings. He times it straight down the ground and it beats the mid-off fielder. Pune are 4/0 after 0.1 overs. 

21:54 IST: Ajinkya Rahane and Faf du Plessis open the innings for Pune. 

21: 39 IST: That's the end of the first innings. Mumbai Indians finish with 121/8 after 20 overs. Superb batting by Harbhajan Singh towards the end of the innings. He finished with 45 off just 30 balls with seven boundaries and a six. 

21: 32 IST: OUT!!! Vinay Kumar loses his wicket to RP Singh, who takes his first scalp of the innings. Mumbai are 96/8 after 18.4 overs. 

21: 25 IST: SIX!!!!! Vinay Kumar hits it towards extra cover of Mitchell Marsh's bowling. Mumbai are 88/7 after 17.5 overs. 

21: 18 IST: Four! Harbhajan Singh plays it straight above the bowler's head. Much needed boundary for him. Mumbai are 80/7 after 16.4 overs. 

21: 11 IST: WICKET!!!!! R Ashwin takes his first wicket. Ambati Rayudu gets into a position to play a pull shot but inside edges it to Faf du Plessis, who has one of the safest pairs of hands on this planet. Umpire Kumar Dharmasena signals the strategic time-out. Mumbai are 68/7 after 15.1 overs. 

21: 06 IST: Fantastic performance by Rajat Bhatia. He finishes with 1/10 in his 4 overs. Superb Spell!!!! Mumbai are 65/6 after 14 overs. 

20: 56 IST: OUT!!!!! Murugan Ashwin, the leggie from Tamil Nadu and one of the surprising picks of this IPL, takes his first wicket. Shreyas Gopal, who looked relatively uneasy at the crease, gets out while playing a shot towards long-off. Mumbai are 57/6 after 12 overs. 

20: 50 IST:  Much-needed strategic time-out for Mumbai Indians. Ricky Ponting and Co. would be looking to get the team together and assess the right total. Mumbai are  48/5 after 10 overs.

20: 40 IST:  Marsh to continue for his third over as Shreyas Gopal whips off his pads for a boundary -- much needed one for Mumbai Indians. Three dots to end the over as Mumbai are  47/5 after 9 overs.

20: 35 IST:  WICKET!! Rajat Bhatia now comes into the attack and he strikes off the first ball to remove Pollard for one. Bhatia bowled one straight - which hit Pollard on the back foot. A loud appeal follows and umpire Kumar Dharmasena raises the finger in affirmation. A wicket maiden for Bhatia Mumbai are  40/5 after 8 overs. 

20: 30 IST:  Marsh has been impressive with his line and length here. He is purchasing a bit of swing from the Wankhede pitch. Marsh manages to hit the pads of Pollard on the full -- loud appeal from Marsh. But umpire O Nandan unmoved  -- replays show the ball would have crashed one the middle stump. Mumbai are  40/4 after 7 overs.

20: 25 IST:  Ishant continues with the big Kieron Pollard on strike. Ishant tries to test Pollard with a short one only to concede five byes. Mumbai are  37/4 after 6 overs 

Rising Pune Supergiants' Ishant Sharma celebrates after taking a wicket against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

© BCCI

 

20: 20 IST:  WICKET!!! Mitchell Marsh gets into the act as he picks up two wickets in his opening over. He first removed Hadrik Pandya, who top-edged it to skipper MS Dhoni behind the stumps. He then had IPL debutant Jos Buttler walking back after he edged to R Ashwin at first slip for 0. Mumbai are  30/4 after 5 overs 

20:15 IST:  Ishant gets his second wicket as he clean bowled Lendl Simmons for 8. Simmons was looking to play the a similar shot that he played off RP Singh the previous over, only to have his stumps shattered. Mumbai are 29/2 after 4 overs. 

20:13 IST:  RP Singh to continue and Simmons smashes it over the bowlers head for the first six of the IPL. Simmons takes a singles off the next ball to give the strike back to Pandya. Mumbai are 20/1 after 3 overs. 

20:07 IST: Hardik Pandya gets a surprise promotion and sees off the over without much of a problem. Mumbai 12/1 after 2 overs. 

20:06 IST: Ishant to share the new ball with RP Singh and he STRIKES off the first ball. Ishant packed off Rohit Sharma with delivery that jagged back a bit.

20:00 IST:  It will be RP Singh who will open the bowling for Rising Pune Supergiants, while Lendl Simmons joins Rohit Sharma for Mumbai Indians.

First up is a swinging delivery from RP Singh, Simmons gets off the mark with a single. Rohit rotates the strike well with clip off his pads for a couple.

Rohit eases into a drive to hit the boundary boards off the fourth ball -- boundary. Eight Runs from the over as Mumbai are 8/0 after 1 over.  

19:32 IST:  Mumbai Playing XI:  Lendl Simmons, Rohit Sharma, Jos Buttler, Ambati Rayudu, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Harbhajan Singh, Mitchell McClenaghan, Vinay Kumar, Shreyas Gopal, Jasprit Bumrah.

Rising Pune Supergiants captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni along with Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma at toss at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

© BCCI

 

Risng Pune Supergiants Playing XI: Ajinkya Rahane, faf du Plessis, Steve Smith, Kevin Pieteresen, Mitchell Marsh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Rajat Bhatia, Ravichandran Ashwin, Murugan Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, RP Singh. 

19:32 IST:  TOSS! Rohit Sharma has won the toss and has elected to bat first against Rising Pune Supergiants . Mumbai are going in six batters and five bowlers, three overseas batters and one foreign seamer. 

Rising Pune Supergiants captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni along with his teammates warm-up before the start of the match against Mumbai Indians at the Indian Premier League at Wankhede Stadium

© BCCI

 

Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who is leading Pune team, admitted he had little time to get to know his team. "I was in Pune, the foreign players haven't been here," said Dhoni at the toss.  

 

The @RPSupergiants are in the house - Captain @msdhoni, @ashwinravi99, @ajinkyarahane88 #IPLhttps://t.co/pQAAgmzM7N

- IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 9, 2016

19:15 IST: For those who want to check out where to watch the live streaming of the game click here

19:10 IST: Ravi Shastri is back -- doing commentary now after his contract expired after India's exit at the World T20.