Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) succumbed to their third straight defeat of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 after falling 13 runs short of the target against Mumbai Indians (MI), at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. At one point they needed 22 in 15 balls with 5 wickets in hand, but they lost 5 for 8 in 13 balls, and with that, the match.
Earlier in the match, MI failed to build up their innings after Rohit Sharma (32 in 25 balls) and Quinton de Kock (40 in 29) laid up a solid foundation, bringing up 53 runs in the Powerplay, the most against Hyderabad in this edition so far. A cameo from Kieron Pollard (35 off 22 including consecutive sixes in the last over) propelled them to 150/8.
After losing the last two games by tantalisingly close margins, the change in squad composition for the Sunrisers was definitely on the cards. But not many would have expected as many as four new faces breaking into the playing XI.
When Mujeeb Ur Rahman, one of them, was brought upon in the Powerplay, Rohit responded by picking his first boundary of the match and followed it with a scintillating six over the mid-wicket. He then swung hard to a good-length delivery from Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the next over to get the second six of his innings. Bhuvneshwar had earlier conceded a boundary off the very first ball of the match, to de Kock.
David Warner then turned towards Vijay Shankar for a breakthrough, and the latter did not disappoint. Rohit pocketed an easy catch to IPL debutant Virat Singh at deep mid-wicket. Shankar got the second wicket as well, when Suryakumar Yadav chipped one straight back to him, just after imparting enough elevation on the previous ball for a six over extra cover.
Amidst the chaos that ensued on the other end, de Kock lost his plot, lost the predatory instinct that he showed in the beginning, and soon lost his wicket to Mujeeb. Mumbai, who looked ominous at one point, found it tough to maintain the same fierceness as the game progressed.
They struggled to counterattack. They struggled to get boundaries in the middle overs. While 53 runs came in the first 6 overs, only 48 were added in the next 8. Mujeeb, Rashid Khan and Shankar combined to build the shackles around the Mumbai batsmen; they could not break through until the end. Mujeeb and Shankar ended up with two wickets each, while Rashid gave away just 22. Surprisingly, Bhuvneshwar struggled to find his rhythm, and leaked too many runs without picking up any wickets.
The target of 151 looked more competitive than it should, for two reasons. First, Mumbai had successfully defended a similar total in their last match, against Kolkata Knight Riders; and secondly, Hyderabad had failed to hunt down achievable targets in their last two games.
Jonny Bairstow (43 off 22) reunited with Warner (36 in 34) at the top for the Sunrisers. Both looked a bit iffy in the beginning. Bairstow even survived a close call in the second over. He went berserk in the next, smashed three fours and a six off Trent Boult. Adam Milne was the next victim whom Bairstow dismantled with disdain; one of the sixes shot straight into the glass door of the refrigerator in the dugout.
Bairstow proceeded at one tune, one tempo. At the other end, Warner kept finding the odd boundary. Bairstow eventually fell in a very comical fashion: his back foot unsettled the stumps while trying to go for a sweep.
But the ecstasy of an explosive start soon gave away to more familiar emotions after Warner was run out while sneaking a risky single in the 12th over. Hardik Pandya fired a direct hit with surgical precision to send him back to the pavilion.
With 27 needed from the last three overs, Hardik’s arm, a bazooka in flesh form, nearly killed the game with yet another strike to cut short Abdul Samad’s stay at the crease. Shankar’s dismissal in the next over reduced SRH to 134/8. Trent Boult (3.4-0-28-3) cleaned up the tail with some crisp, toe-crushing yorkers in the last over to bundle out Hyderabad for 137. Rahul Chahar (4-0-19-3) was the pick of the bowlers for Mumbai.
Brief scores:
Mumbai Indians 150/5 in 20 overs (Quinton de Kock 40; Vijay Shankar 2-19) beat Sunrisers Hyderabad 137 in 19.4 overs (Jonny Bairstow 43; Rahul Chahar 3-19) by 13 runs. Player of the Match: Kieron Pollard.