Captain Hardik Pandya’s pace and veteran leg-spinner Piyush Chawla’s craft put the brakes on Sunrisers Hyderabad’s batting line-up before Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma’s scintillating display with the willow gave Mumbai Indians a rare win this season.

Riding on Suryakumar’s 51-ball unbeaten 102, studded with 12 fours and six sixes, and his unbroken third-wicket association of 143 off just 79 balls with Tilak (37 not out, 32b, 6×4), the host overhauled the target of 174 with 16 balls to spare.

When Tilak took guard in the fifth over, MI was in a spot of bother.

With the Sunrisers pace battery having reduced the home team to 31 for three, Mumbai Indians was in danger of letting its bowlers’ good work come apart because of another poor show by the top-order.

Ishan Kishan, straightened up by Marco Jansen, was caught in slips, Rohit Sharma miscued a pull off Cummins, and Naman Dhir slashed Bhuvneshwar to point to make early exits.

But in the seventh over, Suryakumar changed the complexion by taking on Jansen. In what turned out to be a 22-run over, Suryakumar swung the left-arm pacer over the fine-leg fence twice with his trademark behind-the-wicket innovations.

Then on, Tilak played a perfect second fiddle as his partner continued to torment the opposition attack.

The flamboyant batter settled a score with Cummins by essaying three consecutive pull shots in the 17th over that not only brought MI to the cusp of a win but also put him on the verge of a hundred. He achieved both the milestones in the next over by lofting S. Natarajan’s first ball over long-off for a six.

Had it not been for Chawla and Hardik’s partnership with the ball, MI would have been chasing a stiffer target.

The duo picked three crucial wickets — Travis Head, Nitish Kumar Reddy, and Heinrich Klaasen — for just six runs in 11 balls to derail Sunrisers from 90 for two to 96 for five.

The two shared another three scalps in the 16th and 17th overs to put MI on top before Cummins’ cameo helped SRH cross the 170-run mark.

Scoreboard

Sunrisers Hyderabad: Travis Head c Tilak Varma b Chawla 48 Abhishek Sharma c Ishan Kishan b Bumrah 11 Mayank Agarwal b Anshul Kamboj 5 Nitish Reddy c Anshul Kamboj b Hardik Pandya 20 Heinrich Klaasen b Chawla 2 Marco Jansen b Hardik Pandya 17 Shahbaz Ahmed c Suryakumar Yadav b Hardik Pandya 10 Abdul Samad lbw b Chawla 3 Pat Cummins not out 35 Sanvir Singh not out 8 Extras: (LB-2, W-9, NB-3) 14

Total: (For 8 wickets in 20 Overs) 173

Fall of wickets: 1-56, 2-68, 3-90, 4-92, 5-96, 6-120, 7-124, 8-136.

Mumbai Indians bowling: Nuwan Thushara 4-0-42-0, Anshul Kamboj 4-0-42-1, Jasprit Bumrah 4-0-23-1, Hardik Pandya 4-0-31-3, Piyush Chawla 4-0-33-3.

Mumbai Indians: Ishan Kishan c Mayank b Jansen 9 (7b, 2×4), Rohit Sharma c Klaasen b Cummins 4 (5b, 1×4), Naman Dhir c Jansen b Bhuvneshwar 0 (9b), Suryakumar Yadav (not out) 102 (51b, 12×4, 6×6), Tilak Varma (not out) 37 (32b, 6×4)

Extras: (b-4, lb-10, w-8): 22

Total: (for three wkts. in 17.2 overs): 174.

Fall of wickets: 1-26 (Kishan, 1.4), 2-31 (Rohit, 3.2), 3-31 (Dhir, 4.1).

Sunrisers Hyderabad bowling: Bhuvneshwar 4-1-22-1, Jansen 3-0-45-1, Cummins 4-1-35-1, Natarajan 3.2-0-31-0, Nitish 2-0-16-0, Shahbaz 1-0-11-0.

Toss: Mumbai Indians. PoM: Suryakumar

MI won by seven wickets with 16 balls to spare

Sunrisers Hyderabad will look to produce a dominant show against a frail Mumbai Indians outfit and move up in the Indian Premier League points table when the two teams clash in Mumbai on May 6.
| Photo Credit: B. Jothi Ramalingam

The Indian Premier League is entering the last fortnight of the league stage. Naturally, it’s that time of the year when terms like “business end, must-win affair, playing for pride and playing spoilsport” will be used as frequently as Travis Head’s sixes and Jasprit Bumrah’s toe-crushers.

Despite all these terms befitting the contest between Sunrisers Hyderabad – among the most aggressive outfits who can seldom afford a slip-up for making it to the Playoffs – and Mumbai Indians – on course to be awarded the wooden spoon, it will be the battle between the in form opening batter and the pick of IPL bowlers – yet again – that will be tempting for the fans to flock the Wankhede Stadium on Monday night.

Head and Abhishek Sharma – the left-handed duo – have turned the aggressive template into an ultra-aggressive mode this time around. Among the multiple occasions when the duo have set the tone for a gargantuan SRH total was the contest between these two sides in Hyderabad early on in the tournament.

So strangely was Bumrah used in that game that he bowled a solitary delivery to Head. With Mumbai Indians having only pride and reputation to play for, the fans will be hoping for another duel between the duo instead of Bumrah’s workload being managed with an eye on India’s T20 World Cup challenge.

Equally interesting could be the battle between Rohit Sharma, who was used as an Impact Player against Kolkata Knight Riders on Friday night due to a stiff back, and T. Natarajan, the left-arm pacer who has found his mojo.

Teams (from)

Mumbai Indians: Hardik Pandya (c), Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Dewald Brevis, Jasprit Bumrah, Piyush Chawla, Gerald Coetzee, Tim David, Shreyas Gopal, Ishan Kishan (wk), Anshul Kamboj, Kumar Kartikeya, Akash Madhwal, Kwena Maphaka, Mohammad Nabi, Shams Mulani, Naman Dhir, Shivalik Sharma, Romario Shepherd, Arjun Tendulkar, Nuwan Thushara, Tilak Varma, Harvik Desai (wk), Nehal Wadhera, Luke Wood.

Sunrisers Hyderabad: Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Aiden Markram, Abdul Samad, Nitish Reddy, Shahbaz Ahmed, Pat Cummins (c), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, T Natarajan, Mayank Markande, Umran Malik, Anmolpreet Singh, Glenn Phillips (wk), Rahul Tripathi, Washington Sundar, Upendra Yadav (wk), Jhathavedh Subramanyan, Sanvir Singh, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Marco Jansen, Akash Maharaj Singh, Mayank Agarwal.

Match starts 7:30pm IST.

Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya and his Sunrisers Hyderabad counterpart Pat Cummins will look to come back to winning ways after their team’s opening defeats in the Indian Premier League 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

Mumbai Indians will aim to land the killer punch after fluffing an easy run-chase in their opener when they meet a dangerous Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League in Hyderabad on March 27.

Five-time champions MI had a lot going for them in their tournament opener against the Gujarat Titans, whether it was the incisive spells from pacer Jasprit Bumrah, Dewald Brevis’ impactful knock or Rohit Sharma’s fireworks at the top of the order.

But MI, who have built a reputation of slow starters over the years, could not manage 48 runs off 36 balls with seven wickets in hand. With the 10-team event being more competitive than ever before, Mumbai cannot afford more such lackadaisical performances going forward.

In his first game as Mumbai captain, Hardik pushed himself down the order at number seven to accommodate the likes of Tim David and Brevis higher up.

Considering he batted much higher for the Gujarat Titans last year, there is a case for him to bat higher up the order.

Opener Ishan Kishan, back to action after a long break, could only last four balls against GT. With the T20 World Cup in mind, his performances will be tracked closely and have added significance. He needs to be at his best with the bat and behind the stumps to make the national squad.

Hardik will also be expecting an improved performance from spinners Shams Mulani and Piyush Chawla.

They face SRH on their home turf and the Pat Cummins-led side showed against Kolkata Knight Riders what they are capable of.

The big-hitting Heinrich Klaasen almost got them over the line from a hopeless situation though the rest of the batters put up below par performances.

The opening duo of Mayank Agarwal and Abhishek Sharma has shown promise but would also need to be consistent if SRH are to do well in the competition.

SRH have invested heavily in pinch hitter Abdul Samad and it is high time he delivers on the promise.

The seasoned Bhuvneshwar Kumar was Andre “Russelled” on Saturday night and will look to bounce back strongly.

“Tough job in cricket to bowl to someone like him (Russell). It’s one of those ones which goes one way or the other. Who would have thought we would have got that close? Unfortunately, a bit too much. Lots to be encouraged by. A couple of points to work on also,” Cummins said after the narrow loss at Eden Gardens.

Squads:

Mumbai Indians: Hardik Pandya (c), Rohit Sharma, Dewald Brevis, Jasprit Bumrah, Piyush Chawla, Gerald Coetzee, Tim David, Shreyas Gopal, Ishan Kishan, Anshul Kamboj, Kumar Kartikeya, Akash Madhwal, Kwena Maphaka, Mohammad Nabi, Shams Mulani, Naman Dhir, Shivalik Sharma, Romario Shepherd, Arjun Tendulkar, Nuwan Thushara, Tilak Varma, Vishnu Vinod, Nehal Wadhera, Luke Wood, Suryakumar Yadav.

Sunrisers Hyderabad: Pat Cummins (c), Abdul Samad, Abhishek Sharma, Aiden Markram, Travis Head, Wanindu Hasaranga, Marco Jansen, Rahul Tripathi, Washington Sundar, Glenn Phillips, Sanvir Singh, Heinrich Klaasen, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mayank Agarwal, T. Natarajan, Anmolpreet Singh, Mayank Markande, Upendra Singh Yadav, Umran Malik, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Shahbaz Ahmed, Jaydev Unadkat, Akash Singh, Jhathavedh Subramanyan.

Match starts 7.30PM IST.