Despite a superb six-wicket haul by leg-spinner Adam Zampa, Rising Pune Supergiants suffered a narrow four-run loss against Sunrisers Hyderabad in an IPL clash to end their hopes of qualifying for the knockout stage.
It was the best bowling figures by an Australian in T20s as Zampa claimed six for 19 in his four overs to help Pune restrict Sunrisers for a modest 137 for eight after skipper David Warner elected to bat.
However, the Supergiants could not script a successful runchase as Sunrisers dished out a disciplined bowling effort, led by the veteran seamer Ashish Nehra, who claimed three wickets, to restrict Pune to 133-8 in 20 overs.
For Sunrisers, Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1-20), Moises Henrique (1-20) and Barinder Sran (1-26) also chipped in with one wicket each.
With this win, Sunrisers reached the top of the points table with 14 points, while Pune sunk to the seventh spot with six points after their eight defeat in 11 matches.
Chasing 138 to win, Pune were dealt a severe blow only in the third ball of the innings when seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar removed opener Ajinkya Rahane (0) with Naman Ojha taking the catch, in a maiden over.
Rahane has been their top-scorer and his dismissal early on put the pressure on the top-order as Usman Khawaja too was run-out in fourth over by Hooda when the opener was trying to steal a second run.
George Bailey (34) and R Ashwin (29), who was promoted up the order, then added 49 off 48 balls and brought up the fifty in the 10 over. Ashwin blasted a couple of fours in the next two overs but Bailey's miscued shot ended in the hands of Ashish Nehra as Pune slipped to 68-3.
Ashwin picked up another four in the 13th over but a brilliant catch by Ojha in the next over off Barinder Sran cut shot his innings.
Nehra then dismissed Saurabh Tiwary (9) in the 15th over after being hit for a boundary. It was a miscued pull shot which ended up as a simple catch for Dhawan.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni (30) then blasted a six over long-off to ease the pressure, before picking up the 100 for his team with a single in the 17th over.
In the end, Pune needed 14 runs off the last over and Dhoni blasted Nehra's fourth ball for a six but he was run-out in the next ball. Zampa too was dismissed in the last ball as Pune suffered yet another loss.
Earlier, Zampa dismissed Yuvraj Singh (23), Kane Williamson (32), Moises Henriques (10), Deepak Hooda (14), Naman Ojha (7) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1) -- all of them perishing in the final overs while trying to go for big shots.
Even as the 24-year-old Australian claimed the second-best figures in all IPLs, fellow spinner Aswin (1-16) and seamer RP Singh (1-23) also contributed with one wicket each.
Sunrisers found the going tough as RP Singh gave Pune a good start by removing the dangerous David Warner (11) early on when he had him caught behind in the fourth over.
Other opener Shikhar Dhawan (33) struck a couple of fours and sixes before holing out to Saurabh Tiwary off R Ashwin at long-on as Hyderabad slipped to 64 for two in the 11th over.
Yuvraj Singh tried to step us the run-rate with a 21-ball 23 studded with two sixes and a four but he was sent packing by Zampa when the left-hander attempted to muscle him out of the park only to be caught by Tiwary at Long-off.
In the 17th over, Kane Williamson brought up the hundred for his team with a single. The New Zealand skipper blasted three fours in his 37-ball innings before Rajat Bhatia took a running catch at long-off to end his innings. It was Zampa's second wicket.
Zampa picked up Moises Henrique (10) in the next delivery with Bhatia taking the catch once again as Hyderabad slumped to 114-5 in 18 overs.
In the 19th over, Ashok Dinda bled 15 runs as Hooda and Ojha blasted a six and a four to take Hyderabad to 129-5. In a thrilling last over, Zampa was sent over mid-wicket in the first ball by Hooda but after a brief chat with skipper Dhoni, the Australian had Hooda stumped.
The leg-spinner then claimed his fifth wicket when Ojha was left cramped for room and deflected the ball onto the stumps. Kumar was then dismissed when he tried to play a slog shot only to be caught by Tiwary at long-on.
