Defending champions Mumbai Indians put up a courageous effort in the last league game, on Friday night at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. They went on to beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by 43 runs. Unfortunately, that was some distance less than the 171-run margin they needed to qualify for the top four, and they were knocked out of the IPL. Kolkata Knight Riders expectedly went through.
After putting up a mammoth 235/9 on board, Mumbai were required to restrict Hyderabad within 65. However, Jason Roy and Abhishek Sharma spoiled the party, sharing a 64-run opening stand in just 5.2 overs.
That was it for Mumbai.
When Trent Boult removed Roy for a 21-ball 34, their slim hopes of qualification was all but over. From there it was all about winning the contest.
In the last ball of the seventh over, Jimmy Neesham dismissed Abhishek for a well-played 16-ball 33 to reduce SRH to 79/2. Stand-in captain Manish Pandey kept smashing boundaries and reached his fifty in just 30 balls to keep Hyderabad in the chase. However, there was not enough support from the other end as Mumbai bowlers kept on chipping away with the wickets.
Barring Priyam Garg (29), none of the other Hyderabad middle-order batters reached double figures. They eventually finished at 193/8, with Pandey remained unbeaten at 41-ball 69.
For Mumbai, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Jasprit Bumrah and Neesham took two wickets apiece, while Piyush Chawla, playing his first match for the franchise, and Boult got one wicket each.
Earlier, batting first, the Mumbai batters came out all guns blazing. Ishan Kishan smashing the fastest fifty of IPL 2021 (off just 16 balls), providing a night of fireworks. At one point Kishan seemed headed for the record for the fastest centurion in IPL history, but Umran Malik got the priced scalp, 16 runs away from the milestone. His 84 took just 32 balls, and included 11 fours and four sixes.
If Kishan was brutal, the Suryakumar Yadav's 40-ball 82 was a display of finesse. He kept finding the gaps with his characteristically unorthodox shots until he seemed shaken after being hit on the helmet by Malik. He hit 13 fours and three sixes.
For Sunrisers, Jason Holder took four wickets but given away 52 runs in his four overs.
Brief scores: Mumbai Indians 235/9 in 20 overs (Kishan 84, Suryakumar Yadav 82; Holder 4-52) beat Sunrisers Hyderabad 193/8 in 20 overs (Pandey 69*; Neesham 2-28) by 42 runs. Player of the Match: Ishan Kishan.