Sunrisers had everything going against them after scoring just 119/8. Pune were 101/4 in the 17th over. But the hosts still managed to choke thanks to nervous, illogical batting and Mishra and Co were smart enough to wrap things up with one over to spare. Captain Kumar Sangakkara's decision to drop himself did not go waste.
Mishra had skipper Angelo Mathews caught off the second ball of the 19th over at long-off with an irresponsible shot. Two balls later, Mishra had Bhuvneshwar Kumar leg-before. Rahul Sharma's wild slog off the next ball saw his stumps disturbed and No. 11 Ashok Dinda had little clue about his googly which he missed. Mishra just stole the match and Man of the Match award from under Bhuvneshwar's nose.
In the context of the game, the leggie's 30 off 24 balls and Biplab Samantray's 37 off 37 were priceless contributions.
The script could not have been crazier. Sunrisers were 17/4 at one stage and Pune had started their modest chase by scoring 38/0 in the fifth over. Still, the former team managed to win.
Both teams used just five bowlers, an indication that the wicket was challenging for the batsmen. But there was no maiden over in the entire match. Both teams also changed captains with Mathews coming in for Ross Taylor after the 'Chennai suspension' and Sangakkara making way for De Kock. Despite a first-ball duck, stand-in captain Cameron White was the last-man laughing.
Earlier, Bhuvneshwar's spell broke Sunrisers' back. He castled left-handed Parthiv Patel with a peach that brushed the off-stump and then disturbed White's timber with a late in-dipper. He also had Vihari caught at slip.
His spell of 3-18 in four overs ought to have featured in a winning cause. But Pune's batsmen contrived against him.
All-rounders with 30 runs or more and four wickets
| All-rounder | For | Runs | Wicket | Opposition | Venue | Date |
| R Jadeja | Chennai | 48 | 5-16 | Deccan | Vizag | 7.4.12 |
| P Valthaty | Punjab | 75 | 4-29 | Deccan | Hy'bad | 16.4.11 |
| Yuvraj Singh | Pune | 66* | 4-19 | Delhi | Mumbai | 17.4.11 |
| K Pollard | Mumbai | 64 | 4-44 | Rajasthan | Mumbai | 11.4.12 |
| Rohit Sharma | Deccan | 38 | 4-6 | Mumbai | Centurion | 6.5.09 |
| Brad Hodge | Kochi | 33* | 4-13 | Rajasthan | Indore | 15.5.11 |
| Amit Mishra | Hy'bad | 30 | 4-19 | Pune | Pune | 17.4.13 |
Mishra's hat-trick on Wednesday was the 11th in the league. He is the only one to do it thrice, once each for Daredevils, Chargers and Sunrisers. Mishra is also the first to get three MoM awards in this year's league. — Rajesh Kumar
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