Murtaza stifles Pune

Facing some stifling bowling on a bouncy track, Pune Warriors put in an ordinary effort with the bat to concede Mumbai Indians two easy points. Despite some repair work from Robin Uthappa, Pune managed only 118, which was 64 fewer than what was successfully chased in the last game at the Wankhede Stadium. As expected, Mumbai had few problems chasing the target down.

It was the left-arm spin of Ali Murtaza, who opened the bowling, that frustrated the Pune openers, after which Abu Nechim and Munaf Patel capitalised with two wickets each in their first overs. On a true surface offering appreciable bounce, Mumbai's plan to open with Murtaza worked instantly. He went for just nine runs in his first two overs, and also extracted a couple of risky shots from Jesse Ryder.

It was imperative that Murtaza do well today: Harbhajan Singh was unfit, and Murtaza was the sole spinner in the side. His tight start resulted in injudicious shots that cost Pune four early wickets. And later, Murtaza came back to break a 35-run fifth-wicket partnership. He was not done yet.

With Uthappa nearing his fifty, and the final few overs approaching, there was still a chance Pune would get themselves something to bowl at. However, in the 15th over, Murtaza dismissed Uthappa too to deliver the final blow.