Mumbai Indians have done what no other team has managed so far in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 — restrict an opposition to less than 200 in Sharjah, which has become a nightmare for bowlers this season. Rohit Sharma’s men though managed to showcase their class with the ball as they clinched a 34-run win after post 208 on the board in the first match of Sunday’s double-header.
David Warner hit form despite starting slow to hit a 44-ball 60 but it was not enough as Mumbai Indians bowlers executed their plans to perfection to put out a blueprint for the rest of the teams to follow. Sunrisers were restricted to 174 for 7 at the end of 20 overs.
Mumbai Indians are now on top of the IPL 2020 points table with 3 wins from 4 matches and a better Net Run Rate than Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bangalore who are also tied at 6 points each.
There were yorkers, slower balls, short balls banged into the pitch and some perfectly-executed wide ones as Mumbai made sure Hyderabad never had the momentum in their steep chase. Jonny Bairstow got going early but the pressure accumulated after Warner’s slow start got to him as he was dismissed for 26 by Trent Boult.
The New Zeland pacer was on top of his game as he got the big wickets of Bairstow and his New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson who guided a slower-ball bouncer straight into the hands of de Kock. James Pattinson, once again, shone for Mumbai Indians as the big Australia quick got the scalps of Warner and Manish Pandey while conceding just 29 runs.
The star of the day was Krunal Pandya as he shone with the ball as well as the bat. The dependable all-rounder gave away just 35 runs and picked up the wicket of in-form Priyam Garg to dent the SRH chase.
Bumrah was relatively expensive but he closed out the match with a brilliant 19th over in which he picked up the wickets of Abdul Samad and Abhishek Sharma. Kieron Pollard delivered the knockout blow as he gave away just 2 runs in the final over.
Krunal Pandya late blitz takes Mumbai Indians past 200
Earlier in the day, it was a Krunal late blitz that helped Mumbai Indians avoid becoming the first team to not post 200 or more at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. The left-arm batsman hit 20 runs in the last 4 balls, smashing Siddharth Kaul for 2 sixes and as many boundaries. MI collected 21 runs in their last over to take their tally to 208.
Sunrisers Hyderabad missed their ever-dependable Bhuvneshwar Kumar who missed the tie on the Super Sunday with a hamstring injury. His replacement Kaul had a poor afternoon as he leaked 64 runs in 4 overs — the most expensive figure so far at IPL 2020.
Quinton de Kock repays faith shown by Rohit Sharma
Captain Rohit Sharma failed to trouble the scorers much as he was the only MI batsman with a single-digit score. However, under-fire Quinton de Kock repaid the trust the management has shown in him by smashing a 39-ball 67 before Rashid Khan came up with a brilliant caught and bowled effort. De Kock had to perform as Chris Lynn has been waiting in the wings and the South African wicketkeeper-batsman made sure he got a big score at the right time.
Suyakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan continued their impressive run with cameos in the middle but it was Kieron Pollard who got the big hits out in the end overs once again. The West Indies all-rounder, who has been in fine form at IPL 2020, hit 13-ball 25 while Hardik Pandya hit a 19-ball 28.
Sunrisers Hyderabad could have easily conceded in excess of 220 had it not been for the fine spells of bowling from Rashid Khan and T Natarajan. On a day when all the other SRH bowlers conceded at over 10, Rashid got the wicket of De Kock and finished with 22 for 1. Natarajan got his yorkers on spot, once again at the death to finish with figures of 0 for 29.