Captain Dhoni at his belligerent best

Final-ball finish helps Supergiants consign Kings XI to last spot

GUTS AND GLORY: Requiring 23 runs off the final over, M.S. Dhoni backed his instincts and carted Axar Patel, who conceded a wide in between, for three sixes and a four to take Rising Pune Supergiants to victory. Photo: K.R. Deepak

The cyclonic depression made way for bright sunshine when the game began.

But, by late evening, Kings XI Punjab was trapped in an M.S. Dhoni storm (64 n.o., 32b, 4x4, 5x6).

The Rising Pune Supergiants captain’s innings helped his team end a dismal IPL-9 on a winning note at the Dr. YSR ACA-VDCA Stadium here on Saturday.

Needing 173 to win, it looked as though Supergiants might just miss the bus when 23 runs were needed off the last over — bowled by left-arm spinner Axar Patel.

Awesome hitting

And, Dhoni showcased his awesome hitting prowess, especially when 12 were needed off the last two balls.

The penultimate ball he swung imperiously for a six and then came up with his famed helicopter shot over the mid-wicket fence for another to trigger celebrations and ensure that his team avoided the ignominy of finishing at the bottom of the table.

The fact that Dhoni let his partner R. Ashwin face just one ball in the 11-ball partnership for the seventh wicket, which produced 39 runs, was a measure of his self-belief, though his best came in the last game of the season.

Supergiants struggled right through the innings to be reduced to 86 for five in the 14th over when Dhoni was joined by the other big-hitter Thisara Perera.

The two put on 66 runs for the sixth wicket off 32 balls to give the team hopes of victory.

Earlier, captain Murali Vijay and Gurkeerat Singh Mann struck breezy half-centuries to help Kings XI Punjab, electing to bat, post a challenging score of 172 for seven from 20 overs.

For someone who hit his first four only in the fourth over of the innings, Vijay opened up later on to essay some of his trademark, clean hits.

Huge sixes

The huge sixes into the stands off pacers Deepak Chahar and Perera and also off leg-spinner Adam Zampa showed Vijay’s admirable stroke selection. Vijay and Gurkeerat put on 58 runs off 43 balls for the third wicket, before Vijay, going for a big on-side heave, was bowled by a straighter one from Ashwin.

Later, it was Gurkeerat’s flamboyance that propped up the innings.

He struck some lusty blows, even treating Irfan Pathan and Ashwin with disdain.

However, the wily Ashwin foxed him in the 18th over with change of pace to induce a mistimed stroke.

In the same over, he also trapped the out-of-form David Miller lbw to return a creditable four-wicket haul and stem the run flow.