Hot commodity: Samson, who delivered a masterpiece at the ICC T20 World Cup and won the Lead Actor honours, is primed to extend his purple patch in Chennai’s Yellow.
| Photo Credit: CSK

Sunrisers Hyderabad’s players celebrate during the Indian Premier League cricket tournament between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Mumbai Indians in Hyderabad.
| Photo Credit: AP

Travis Head played a gem of an innings, Abhishek Sharma was stunning and Heinrich Klaasen flamboyant as the trio fashioned Sunrisers Hyderabad’s impressive 31-run win against Mumbai Indians in a high-scoring IPL league match at Rajiv Gandhi Stadium here on Wednesday night.

Rollicking start

When Mumbai began the daunting chase of 278, it was obvious that the target was too high.

This despite Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan ensuring a rollicking start before both fell, going for big shots.

Later, local boy Tilak Varma showcased his power-hitting with a brilliant knock but that was not good enough as Sunrisers captain Pat Cummins struck the big blows — removing Rohit and Tilak — at crucial moments to short-circuit Mumbai Indians’ hopes.

Tim David too came up with some big hits towards the end but Mumbai needed something extraordinary which didn’t eventually happen.

Earlier, Mumbai’s gamble to put the host in backfired badly as the bowling looked very ordinary, with the stand-out exception, not surprisingly, being Jasprit Bumrah.

Sunrisers posted the highest ever total of 277 for three in IPL history, eclipsing the previous best of 263 for five by Royal Challengers Bengaluru against Pune Warriors in 2013.

Great move

The home team’s move to prefer Head to Marco Jansen proved to be a great one as the Australian opener, dropped on five at mid-off by Tim David off Hardik Pandya’s first ball in the second over of the innings, played some extravagant strokes, especially treating 18-year-old South African left-arm pacer Kwena Maphaka with disdain, pulling him nonchalantly for two huge sixes and straight driving to the fence with aplomb.

Southpaw Abhishek was equal to the occasion against both pace and spin — pulling pacer Gerald Coetzee for a six and later hitting leg-spinner Piyush Chawla for three sixes in his first over.

Century stand

Abhishek was busy hitting boundaries at will and later the South African duo of the classy Aiden Markram and the more belligerent Klaasen joined hands for an unbroken fourth-wicket partnership of 116 of 55 balls to push the visitors completely on the defensive.

MI 246/5 in 20 overs

MI managed 246 for five in their allotted 20 overs, riding on a 34-ball 64 by Tilak Varma and Tim David’s 22-ball 42 not out. For SRH, Pat Cummins (2/35) and Jaydev Unadkat (2/47) snapped two wickets each.

Teams

Sunrisers Hyderabad: Travis Head, Mayank Agarwal, Abhishek Sharma, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen(w), Abdul Samad, Shahbaz Ahmed, Pat Cummins(c), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mayank Markande, Jaydev Unadkat.

Mumbai Indians: Ishan Kishan(w), Rohit Sharma, Naman Dhir, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya(c), Tim David, Gerald Coetzee, Shams Mulani, Piyush Chawla, Jasprit Bumrah, Kwena Maphaka.

Brief Scores

Sunrisers Hyderabad: 277 for 3 in 20 overs (Heinrich Klassen 80 , Travis Head 62, Abhishek Sharma 63; Piyush Chawla 1/34).

Mumbai Indians: 246 for 5 in 20 overs (Tilak Varma 64, Tim David 42 not out; Pat Cummins 2/35).

A file photo of the IPL trophy.
| Photo Credit: PTI

Chennai was named the venue of this year’s IPL final on May 26 and was also awarded hosting rights of the second qualifier on May 24 as the BCCI unveiled the tournament’s complete schedule, factoring in the polling dates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Chennai has been awarded the final as the Chennai Super Kings are the defending champions. The title-holders get to host the opening and the final game of the tournament as per established convention. The other two marquee play-off matches will be hosted by Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium on May 21 and 22 respectively.

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The event got underway on March 22 after the BCCI announced the schedule for just the first two weeks (21 matches).

“The remainder of the schedule has been drawn up, factoring in the polling dates and venues for the upcoming Lok Sabha Elections across the country,” BCCI secretary Jay Shah said in a media release. “After a break on May 20th, the spotlight will shift to Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium as the world’s biggest cricket stadium hosts an electrifying Qualifier 1 clash featuring two top-ranked sides on Tuesday, May 21st, followed by the exciting Eliminator on Wednesday, May 22nd.”

“…the Qualifier 2 and the grand final will take place in Chennai, the home turf of reigning champions Chennai Super Kings. The Qualifier 2, to be played between the loser of Qualifier 1 and the winner of the Eliminator, will take place on Friday, May 24th, followed by the summit clash on Sunday, May 26th,” he added.

The iconic Chepauk stadium will host the IPL finale long after voting in Tamil Nadu is complete. The State will go to polls on April 19 in the first phase of elections.

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Delhi Capitals, who will play their first two home games in Visakhapatnam on March 31 and April 3, will have five games at their actual base. These matches are scheduled for April 20, 24, 27, May 7 and 14. The polling for Delhi’s seven Lok Sabha seats will take place on May 25.

Should CSK go the distance in the tournament, the marquee games at Chepauk will be perfect opportunity for Mahendra Singh Dhoni to end his IPL career in front of home fans, as is being widely speculated after he handed over the team’s captaincy to Ruturaj Gaikwad on the eve of the league-opener.

“Punjab Kings, who commenced their season at the PCA New International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur, will culminate their home campaign in Dharamsala. Punjab will be hosting two matches in Dharamsala on May 5 and 9 against CSK and RCB respectively,” the BCCI release stated.

Rajasthan Royals will also play a couple of matches at their second home base Guwahati. “Rajasthan Royals too have opted for a second venue in Guwahati and will play their final two home matches in Assam. They will first host Punjab Kings on May 15 and later play Kolkata Knight Riders on May 19, which will also mark the conclusion of the league stage of the 17th season of IPL,” the release further stated.