Manoj Tiwary cites Dhoni's dismissal as the turning point in the final

The Rising Pune Supergiant were so close yet so far from the ultimate glory in the 2017 edition of the Indian Premier League. They lost to their Maharashtra neighbors by a margin of just 1 run in the big finals. The game is done and dusted and the glory celebrated. But for the players of the RPS camp, they are yet to come to terms with the reality. Manoj Tiwary, the man who was there in the final over of the game, recalled the moments recently.

As per the quotes in Sportstarlive, Manoj Tiwary admitted that the defeat was very hard to digest. He cited the dismissal of MS Dhoni as the turning point in the game. He believes that the low totals are often the ones that turn out to be tricky. There is a bit of complacency that creeps up in the minds of the players. The Mumbai Indians bowlers seemed to have made the most out of that factor.

“This defeat is hard to digest. It was a great opportunity that came our way. To be honest, MSD’s (Mahendra Singh Dhoni) dismissal was the turning point. That changed the course of the match. In the middle, we lost that rhythm in batting and could not rotate the strike much. That made the difference,” quoted Manoj Tiwary.

“Low totals are often tricky. That hurt us the most. The Mumbai Indians bowlers utilized the situation and put the pressure back on us. We failed to convert good starts,” he added further.

On his dismissal

In the final over, RPS needed 11 to win with Tiwary and Steve Smith at the crease. Tiwary hit the very first ball of the over bowled by Mitchell Johnson for a four. However, he fell on the second delivery. Smith followed him on the very next ball. Talking about the dismissal, Tiwary quipped that his plan was to go over the mid off fielder. However, he ended up holing into the deep.

“The idea was to hit it over the mid-off, but that didn’t work. In pressure situations, it is important to execute the plan well, which we could not. Now, I might be thinking that shot could have been played differently, but in cricket, every situation matters,” quoted Tiwary.

On Smith’s dismissal

Talking about the shot that Steve Smith got out to, the veteran Indian batsman noted that it was a brilliant shot that he played. Earlier, even Ricky Ponting had also noted that the shot that Smith got out to was the best of the match. Tiwary further added that there was stern silence in the RPS camp when the game ended.

“It was a cracker of a shot. Had it been some other time, it would have definitely cleared the ropes. But in that particular moment, Rayudu caught it going out of his comfort zone. Cricket is all about such uncertainties…It was so close…We were sitting quietly. None of us could speak for that moment. But things changed once we reached the dressing room. We had to calm ourselves and move on,” he conceded.