IPL: Mumbai Indians beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by 4 wickets

The home team executes an all-round show to record their second consecutive win in the Indian Premier League.

Mumbai: A sprightly Mumbai Indians continued their ascent in the Indian Premier League with a four-wicket victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad in a one-sided contest on a tricky wicket here on Thursday. Led by Will Jacks who played a decisive role with a fine 36 (26 balls, 3x4s, 3x6s) after a crucial spell of 3-0-14-2, Mumbai Indians executed an all-round show to record their second consecutive win.

The home side came on top for having assessed the Wankhede Stadium pitch accurately and adapting quickly to the conditions it presented, with each of the pieces falling in place for the five-time winners. MI’s fast bowlers used the short and slower balls well throughout the first innings and nailed their yorkers perfectly.

---

In the run chase, the MI batters showed a clear plan to keep finding the boundaries which kept them on top.

Chasing 163 on a pitch which had grip and turn, MI were also benefited by SRH’s reluctance to bring on spin in the powerplay, as the home side made 166/6 in 18.1 overs to record their third win of the season.

Even though Rohit Sharma endured another failure after a promising start in which he made 26 off 16 balls with three sixes, he gave MI the momentum with the bat and the others capitalised on it.

Opener Ryan Rickelton made a fluent 31 while Suryakumar Yadav hammered two sixes and as many fours to make 26 (off 15 balls) to provide a strong support to Jacks. Captain Hardik Pandya played a crucial cameo of 21 off just nine balls to take MI to the threshold of victory.

Tilak Varma (21 not out) then took MI over the line after a late minor hiccup as the home side reached 166 for 6 in 18.1 overs. In the first half, Sunrisers Hyderabad found late momentum with the bat to fight their way through and post 162 for 5.

With the surface at the Wankhede Stadium providing grip and turn for the spinners and slower deliveries giving dividends to the pace bowlers, Sunrisers Hyderabad batters struggled to adapt to the wicket for most part of the innings. But a big finish — 57 runs coming off the last five overs — gave SRH some much-needed impetus towards the end.

MI bowlers were spot-on in formulating their plans and near-perfect in their execution with Jasprit Bumrah delivering a measly 4-0-21-1, Trent Boult nailing his yorkers again to return 4-0-29-1 and Will Jacks producing an impressive 3-0-14-2.

The SRH struggle was evident from the start even as Abhishek Sharma stroked his way to 40 off 28 balls with seven boundaries. It all started with an eventful first over when the two SRH openers got a reprieve each off Deepak Chahar.

Abhishek went down the wicket, swinging his bat on the first delivery. The ball shaped away slightly to take the edge but Jacks failed to get hold of it.

On the fourth delivery, Travis Head played one straight to Karn Sharma at midwicket where he failed to pluck a low catch as the ball fell just short of him. Abhishek looked to be hitting his strides when he smacked three fours off Chahar in the fifth over but there was just no momentum gained.

Raj Angad Bawa timed his dive to grab the ball to dismiss Abhishek off Pandya for the first breakthrough and by then it was evident that SRH would have to scrape their way through to a competitive total. Jacks then had former MI player Ishan Kishan stumped for a mere two.

Head was unable to open up even as he tried his best to cut loose. Despite having caught off a no-ball with Pandya overstepping, Head failed to capitalise as he fell for an ordinary 29-ball 28. Such was the impact of MI’s control that the first six of the game came as late as in the 18th over — the best one of SRH’s innings — when Heinrich Klaasen (37 off 28 balls, 3x4s, 2x6s) took 21 runs to spoil Chahar’s figures (4-0-47-0). In the final over, Aniket Verma hit a couple of sixes and Pat Cummins smacked one to take vital 22 runs off Pandya.