Rising Pune Supergiants couldn’t repeat their performance from the previous match against MI. RPS had a pretty good start to their innings with Saurabh Tiwary and Steve Smith going all guns blazing. But after Smith’s wicket, the momentum shifted completely. “When I was playing with Smith the run rate was pretty good. Afterwards, the wicket slowed down and the people took time to settle down. In the death overs, they bowled well because of which we couldn’t score much.”

Though Tiwary played till the end of the innings, he took time to get going. Tiwary said, “I am opening after two years in IPL and it took time for me to settle down. Afterwards, I felt pretty good to bat and it felt good that I scored runs, and I also gained a bit of confidence.”

Tiwary came to open after RPS being handicapped with injuries, to their first choice players. “IPL has been a very good platform for us youngsters as the performance here counts. The last IPL season with Delhi was also good, but 2-3 seasons before that were not that good and hopefully it will go well this year.”
RPS has given many good performances but hasn’t been able to convert it into wins. “Our start was pretty good. I think we have been making some mistakes due to which we are losing the matches. One positive that we can take from these matches are that these matches have been close. So it has provided us with a good momentum, and as they say, a good momentum is important for a team,” said Tiwary.

RPS have an uphill task from here on to qualify for the playoffs. Tiwary adds, “It is difficult but it is not impossible. We have to win 6 matches and we have momentum on our side. When I was in RCB we lost six matches continuously and then we won 8 matches on the trot. Anything can happen in cricket and maybe after a few good matches we might even qualify.”