Rohit powers Mumbai to thumping win over Pune

Mumbai Indians have cruised to a comfortable eight-wicket victory over Rising Pune Supergiants on the back of a superb knock from skipper Rohit Sharma in the Maharashtra derby of the Indian Premier League.

Asked to bat first on Sunday, Pune posted 159-5, thanks to opener Saurabh Tiwary's much-needed 57 off 45 balls.

Rohit then smashed a match-winning unbeaten 85 off 60 balls to guide the defending champions to the win with nine balls to spare.

The victory lifted Mumbai to 10 points from nine games in second position in the points table. They have won five and lost four matches.

Chasing a challenging target of 160, in-form openers Rohit and Parthiv Patel got Mumbai off to a good start scoring 24 without losing any wicket in the first three overs.

But the fourth over saw Parthiv perish chasing a wide Ashok Dinda delivery after cracking the bowler for three consecutive boundaries, leaving Mumbai at 39-1.

Despite losing his opening partner Rohit, who smashed eight boundaries and three sixes, and Ambati Rayudu (22) kept the runs flowing to take their team to a strong position.

The duo notched a 50-run partnership for the second wicket to take Mumbai past the 75-run mark in the 10th over.

Rayudu then threw his wicket away in the 12th over which provided a glimmer of hope for Pune.

But Rohit kept his cool and played sensibly to bring up yet another half-century off 38 balls.

Jos Buttler (27 not out) gave him good support from the other end as the duo batted through to take their team over the line.

Earlier, Pune stumbled at the start losing opener batsman Ajinkya Rahane (4) in the second over with just eight runs on the scoreboard.

Tiwary and in-form Steve Smith (45) then scored at a brisk rate in a recovery stand to take their team to 54-1 at the end of the powerplay.

Smith, who scored his maiden IPL ton in his last match, once again dazzled with his strokeplay, cracking four boundaries and three sixes in his 23-ball innings.

Wily seamer Jasprit Bumrah forced an edge from the Aussie captain to end an 84-run partnership for the second wicket in the 10th over.

The home side suffered another blow in the 13th over when Peter Handscomb (6) skied Harbhajan Singh for a catch to Buttler at deep square leg as Pune were reduced to 105-3.

Watching his partners fall at the other end, Tiwary made the most of the time spent on strike to bring up his half-century in 39 balls.

After Tiwary perished in the 18th over, skipper MS Dhoni (24) and Thisara Perera (12 not out) helped their team cross the 150-run mark.

Bumrah (3-29) was the pick of the bowlers for Mumbai while Harbhajan Singh and Mitchell McClenaghan claimed a wicket each.

Brief Scores:

Rising Pune Supergiants: 159-5 in 20 overs (Saurabh Tiwary 57; Jasprit Bumrah 3-29)

Mumbai Indians: 161-2 in 18.3 overs (Rohit Sharma 85 not out; R Ashwin 1-21)