The toss was a crucial one, given the state of the pitch, and Gilchrist would have been thrilled to see the coin come down in his side's favour and put Pune in to bat. The Punjab opening bowlers immediately set the tone as both Praveen Kumar and Parvinder Awana, a bowler I'd previously never seen before, were really impressive as they swung and seamed the ball around and gave away few scoring opportunities. The pressure they created led to the run-out of Ryder in the 3rd over, another breakdown in communication between himself and Ganguly, and Pune struggled to get away for the duration of their innings. Mascarenhas would have loved the look of the Mohali pitch, almost English in appearance, and he bowled brilliantly to continue from where his team-mates left off. Always accuarate and with the ability to move the ball with little pace to work, he posed questions to all the Pune batsman as he took 5-23, the highlight being the beauty he sent down to clip the top of Samuels' off stump. All the Punjab bowlers performed their roles well, which bodes well for future home games, as Pune committed the cardinal sin of not using up their overs. It seemed that at least 130 was on the cards, very competitive on a bowler's wicket, with 5 overs to go but some poor batting led to their downfall. Manhas had batted nicely to reach 31 and played an ill advised scoop to be bowled, having already hit the previous ball for 6 with an orthodox off drive. He needed to bat all the way through and Pune could not afford such a high risk shot, that said he played well up to that point on his 2012 debut. A total of 115 looked unlikely to be enough and there is such a difference between chasing under a run a ball and something like 130.
For the 2nd consecutive time when defending a low total, Dinda got his side off to the perfect start as he bowled the out of touch Valthaty first ball. With Punjab yet to register a win you could sense their nerves and so did Ganguly as the slip cordon was packed but unfortunately it wasn't to be. Gilchrist and Marsh's rebuilding partnership of 50 was crucial in settling down their side, but when the skipper fell to a sharp catch from the lively Steve Smith the game was still on, with Marsh the key wicket. The turning point came soon later when, in the next over, Ryder fumbled a return through to miss out on a comfortable run out of Marsh, the score could have been 54/3 with the 2 big men sent back and over half of the runs still required. Pune missed their chance to take the big wicket, even dropping a half chance from Marsh later on. The Aussie was not at his fluent best, his inside edges somehow continued to miss his stumps as Dinda and Nehra bowled well early on, but his 64* was exactly what Punjab needed, one of their experienced men to step up and take responsibility. Pune's bowlers didn't do badly but just didn't have enough runs to play with and thus couldn't build much pressure. It was their fielding that let them down as, other than the outstanding Smith at point, there were a number of fumbles, overthrows and drops that further released the pressure that the bowlers had worked so hard to create. It was clear to see that Punjab were nervous in their chase, keeping Pune in the game throughout, but this will be a big win for them as their bowling that had previously let them down, did a brilliant job to seal the match.
The toss was massive in this match, just the stroke of luck Punjab needed to turn their fortunes, and from then on in they were the better side. Its one thing to produce a helpful pitch but its up to the bowlers do put the ball in the right areas and they certainly did this, Kumar (0-19) and Awana (0-18) bowled beautifully without reward, with Mascarenhas taking a richly deserved 5-23. Pune will be disappointed not to beat a team down on confidence and their biggest fault was probably being over ambitious in their batting when actually around 130-140 would have been really tough to chase. Marsh looks to be getting some form back and this will be a boost for KXIP as their batting line-up depends so much on him at 3.
Pune are my favourite side this year and it was a disappointing game to watch, I found myself shouting at the TV a few times! Getting the line-up right is crucial, all sides are searching for that perfect combination, and I'm not convinced they've quite got it yet. If Ryder's role is that of a batting all rounder then I can't see why Luke Wright isn't playing instead, given his impressive performances in the Big Bash down under and Ryder's dodgy start so far. Samuels has done well with bat and ball whilst Mathews will prove to be a good player following his recent return. The enthusiasm of Steve Smith has been a highlight for all Pune fans. Either with bat or in the field you can tell he wants to do his very best at all times and he's really won me over in the last week when I was previously unconvinced. Equally, the performances of some of the domestic players have been promising. Uthappa looks in great touch, Dinda and Nehra look a good combination with the new ball and Sharma and Karthik are superb spinners in this format. Ganguly is a great captain, the best in the tournament in my eyes, but he'll need to find some form with the bat and improve in the field, to set the perfect example. I think he needs an in form, big hitting partner to open with, such as the unused Iqbal or Wright, to take off some of the pressure and let him build an innings. Pune have won 2 from 3 and one set back can't spoil a good thing, just the odd change needed and I would be surprised to see Ryder in the line-up on Saturday against Chennai. Hopefully this was a one off and I can't wait to see the side back at the home ground to take on the Champions, already beaten Mumbai, why not another one of the big sides? Plus, if anyone can tell me where I can track down one of the shirts from this year I'd be very grateful!
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