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Report : M23 - MI vs SRH
26 Apr, 2015
Report : M23 - MI vs SRH
25 Apr, 2015
Mumbai Indians gave the 17000-odd kids at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai reason to rejoice after they defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad by 20 runs on Saturday. After an average effort with the bat – when they scored 157 runs on the board, the hosts fought back to restrict the visitors to 137-8.
Needing to score at close to eight runs an over at the beginning of the chase, SRH got off the blocks in a hurry with David Warner and Shikhar Dhawan scoring 45 runs in the first five overs. Dhawan was the more aggressive of the two left-handers; he drove Harbhajan Singh to the cover boundary off the first ball of the chase, and got stuck into the off-spinner in the fourth over, picking up three fours and a six.
The opening pair was separated in the last ball of the fifth over when Warner’s attempted scoop to a short delivery off Lasith Malinga landed in the hands of thirdman. Dhawan perished in the sixth over – after he’d made 42 from 29 balls - when he pulled a short delivery from Mitchell McClenaghan, but found Malinga at midwicket.
With the pillars of the SRH batting back in the dressing room, MI tightened the screws. Between overs seven and twelve, runs were at a premium; MI did not concede a single boundary, giving away only 29 runs.
With the required run rate climbing with every passing delivery, the time had come for the two SRH batsmen to play their shots. KL Rahul hit a six and Ravi Bopara picked up a boundary in the thirteenth over bowled by J Suchith. But Rahul’s attempt to go over the top yet again – this time against McClenaghan – resulted in a miscue which landed in the hands of Ambati Rayudu. He made 25 from 27 balls, and his 6.1 over association with Bopara was worth 36 runs.
The experienced Bopara too couldn’t come to the rescue of his team on this occasion; the English all-rounder crawled to 23 from 26 balls before he holed out to midwicket in the eighteenth over. Lasith Malinga picked up three wickets in the penultimate over to knock the stuffing off the chase. SRH finished their twenty overs at 137 for 8.
McClenaghan was the pick of the MI bowlers, picking up three of the top five batsmen, while Lasith Malinga returned the most successful, finishing with figures of four for 23. The left-arm spinner J Suchith impressed too, returning figures of one for 25 from his four overs.
Earlier in the evening, after opting to bat first, the Mumbai Indians couldn’t capitalize on the start provided by the openers. Lendl Simmons and Parthiv Patel added 42 in 5.3 overs before the latter was dismissed for a run-a-ball 17. MI lost Unmukt Chand, who opened his account a beautiful cover drive, eight balls later and all the momentum built by the openers had come undone.
Simmons held his end up; he hit leg-spinner Karn Sharma for a six over midwicket, and picked up two boundaries down the ground off Dale Steyn, the second of which brought up his half-century. But the bowler had the last laugh as he breached past the defences of the batsman and had the woodwork disturbed. The MI opener made 51 from 42 balls, aided with six boundaries and a six.
He was involved in a 51-run partnership with skipper Rohit Sharma, who struck two fours and a six in his 15-ball 24. Sharma, who found the boundary with three crisp strokes, attempted to hit the leg-spinner out of the park, but didn’t get to the pitch of the ball, yet went through with the shot, didn’t get enough power behind the stroke and holed out to the man at long off. The dismissal of both the set batsmen in the space of eight deliveries once again derailed the innings.
From 108 for four at the end of fourteen overs, MI added a further 49 runs in the remaining six overs to finish with a respectable 157 for 8. Kieron Pollard’s 33 off 24 balls – aided with three fours and a six – was the only other respectable score in the MI innings.
For Sunrisers Hyderabad, who fielded both Dale Steyn and Trent Boult in their XI, Bhuvneshwar Kumar returned the most successful bowler with three wickets. The 25-year old, who bowled four one-over spells, completed with figures of 3 for 26. Steyn (2-38), Praveen Kumar (2-35) and Karn Sharma (1-30) were the other wicket-takers.
Brief Scores
Mumbai Indians 157-8 in 20.0 Overs (Lendl Simmons 51, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 3-26) beat Sunrisers Hyderabad 137-8 in 20.0 Overs (Shikhar Dhawan 42, Lasith Malinga 4-23)
Man of the Match: Lasith Malinga for his 4 for 23
