Defending champions Mumbai Indians carved out their third victory in five matches by defeating Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Dream11 Indian Premier League match at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Sunday.
In the second afternoon game of the thirteenth edition of IPL, holders Mumbai Indians dished out a clinical performance to stop former champions Sunrisers Hyderabad’s two-match winning streak.
Chasing a huge target of 209 runs on an ideal batting pitch, captain David Warner (60 off 44 balls) made a valiant effort but did not get enough support from his other batsmen as the Mumbai Indians bowlers stuck to their plan of taking pace off the ball.
Manish Pandey (30), Jonny Bairstow (25) and young Abdul Samad (20) got the starts but could not capitalise on them as the 2016 IPL champions ended at 174 for 7.
Trent Boult was the most effective bowler on view with a 2 for 28. The left-handed paceman was later adjudged man-of-the-match for his brilliant spell. Fellow quickies James Pattinson (2-29) and Jasprit Bumrah (2-41) gave him able support. Krunal Pandya chipped in with a wicket.
Mumbai Indians had earlier shrugged off an early dismissal of their captain Rohit Sharma to finish at 208 for 5. Quinton de Kock, who failed to get going in the earlier ties, finally roared back to form and anchored the innings with a fluent 67 off 39 deliveries. The South African opener was involved in a 78-run stand with Ishan Kishan (31) which set the launching pad for a 200-plus total.
Just when the SRH pacemen and Rashid Khan seemed to have done the containing job well, Pandya brothers – Hardik and Krunal — and Kieron Pollard caused maximum damage in the final four overs.
Hardik Pandya smashed 28 (19 balls), while Pollard made 25 (13 balls) but it was Krunal Pandya’s 20 not out which rubbed the salt into the wounds of SRH. Siddharth Kaul took two wickets but went for 64 runs, perhaps the most expensive bowler this season.
In-form Pollard got going at the death with a typical big hitting. Krunal Pandya’s final-over flourish gave Mumbai the momentum.
With this comfortable win, Mumbai Indians have now jumped to the top of the table with six points. Hyderabad slipped to the sixth spot with four points from five matches.
Brief Scores
Mumbai Indians 208 for 5 in 20 overs (Quinton de Kock 67, Ishan Kishan 31, Hardik Pandya 28, Suryakumar Yadav 27, Kieron Pollard 25, Krunal Pandya 20 not out; Sandeep Sharma 2-41, Siddharth Kaul 2-64, Rashid Khan 1-22) beat Sunrisers Hyderabad 174 for 7 in 20 overs (David Warner 60, Manish Pandey 30, Jonny Bairstow 25, Abdul Samad 20, Abhishek Sharma 10; Trent Boult 2-28, James Pattinson 2-29, Jasprit Bumrah 2-41, Krunal Pandya 1-35) by 34 runs.
Man-of-the-match: Trent Boult (Mumbai Indians).
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