3: PWI vs MI

The third match of the IPL saw another low scoring affair in what was a really compelling match with Pune upsetting the odds to gain a comfortable win, despite a seemingly under-par total.

Pune were sent in to bat first by Harbajahn and it seemed a good decision as Pune struggled to get going. Malinga's first over was near unplayable, pin point yorkers and then a well disguised slower ball seeing off Pandey. 0-1 after 1 over soon became 4-47 in the 9th over as pace was taken off the ball by the spinners and Munaf Patel as it looked a difficult pitch to score on. What followed turned out to be the match winning partnership between Uthappa (36 from 33) and Smith (39 from 32 and MoM) as they looked to halt Mumbai's initiative whilst picking up singles and hitting the loose balls. At one stage a score of 135/140 looked possible but good death bowling restricted Pune to 129/9 and few would have given Pune much a chance.

Pune are my favorite side in this year's competition with their tag as underdog and interesting mix of overseas players and whilst I thought they had a chance as the pitch had shown plenty of spin, Ojha bowled well again with 4-0-23-1, a win certainly seemed unlikely. It was Ganguly's experience as captain that his side home, rotating his bowlers nicely and sticking with brave, attacking fields as slip was a regular feature. PWI needed an excellent start and they got just this as Levi was stumped 2nd ball as Karthik shortened his length intelligently. Levi will have to work on spin bowling as I'd imagine a lot of sides will be opening up with spinners to him on today's evidence. Dinda then followed up with a crucial 2nd over as both Rayudu and Sharma were caught behind the wicket playing loose shots, at 5/3 after 2 overs it was game on.

Franklin and Karthik were then forced to rebuild much in the same way as in Pune's innings but their rate of scoring was an issue throughout, having faced 42 balls Mumbai needed Franklin to see them home but his 32 was sluggish and took up too many dots. Pune's spinners combined for 11-0-51-4 changed the game as their was plenty of spin on offer which prevented Mumbai getting to the pitch and hitting over the top. The contrasting combination of Sharma, Samuels and Karthik looked a real handful and will be a match for any side on a turning wicket. Equally Dinda showed a good combination of pace and well directed yorkers to earn him 4-0-18-4 and could well have been man of the match. A massive result for Pune and a strange start for Mumbai who beat defending champions CSK but couldn't get past Pune when they really should have done after limiting them nicely. Ganguly's batting may not be what it once was but his captaincy was faultless today and is up there with the best leaders in this year's edition.