MI caught in net

Express News Service

BENGALURU:  Mumbai Indians’ skipper Rohit Sharma looked a bit nervous at the toss on Friday, rightly so. For a start, it was a must-win toss, where they had to bat first against Sunrisers Hyderabad in Abu Dhabi to even have the slightest of chances to make it to the play-offs. The toss went his way and with a smile, Sharma said “we are going to bat first, no choice.” The equation was not straightforward — they had to win the match by over 170 runs.

Mumbai found themselves in a precarious situation, primarily due to their poor show in the UAE leg, losing four of their last six matches. But this game provided an opportunity for their batsmen to be counted and they did. If Ishan Kishan provided a platform with a 32-ball 84, Suryakumar Yadav laid the finishing touches with his 82. They scored 235/9. 

However, despite it being MI’s highest ever score in their history, it just was too little too late as Hyderabad had no hiccups in crossing the 65 they needed to ensure Kolkata Knight Riders would finish in fourth place in the table. Mumbai got a consolation win as SRH finished at 193/8 in their 20 overs.   

Even if it was ultimately a disappointing outcome for Mumbai, Suryakumar’s and Kishan’s innings would have brought a smile on the faces of the many Indian fans. They are crucial components of the World Cup squad but they haven’t been at their best in the UAE leg. That changed in 90 minutes.  The southpaw made his intentions clear, opening his account with a six of Mohammad Nabi. Sandeep Sharma’s next over had four fours.

The player raced to his half-century off just 16 balls, fastest ever for Mumbai, who were 83/1 after the first six overs. Kishan contributed ten fours and two sixes during that period. The batting surface also came to Mumbai’s rescue, but full points for Kishan in executing his skills against some quality bowlers like Umran Malik and Rashid Khan as well. With the Patna man at the middle, 250 was well on the cards.

Even after Sharma was gone, they could not take a back step. Hence, they promoted Hardik Pandya up the order. But he failed to make an impression. They received an even bigger blow when Kishan, who hit 11 fours and four sixes, was dismissed by Malik. With Kieron Pollard getting out for 13, the onus was on Suryakumar to do something special. The middle-order batsman did not have much support at the other end as wickets began to fall regularly but Suryakumar, who hit 40-ball 82, was in his zone, taking on the bowlers. At one point, he was at 16 runs from 12 balls, but he shifted gears big time and threatened to breach the 250-run mark. 

Also, it was a unique day in IPL history with Royal Challengers Bangalore and Delhi Capitals playing a game simultaneously in Dubai. It was for the first time that two matches started at the same time. RCB won with a superb six by Srikar Bharat, who hit 78 off 52 balls, in the final ball of the match with seven wickets to spare.

Brief scores: MI 235/9 in 20 ovs (Kishan 84m Suryakumar 82, Holder 4/52) bt SRH 193/8 in 20 ovs (Pandey 69 n.o); DC 164/5 in 20 ovs (Dhawan 43, Shaw 48, Hetmyer 29, Siraj 2/25) lost to RCB 166/3 in 20 ovs (Bharat 78 n.o, Maxwell 51 n.o).

Play-off schedule: October 10: Delhi Capitals vs Chennai Super Kings; October 11: Royal Challengers vs Kolkata Knight Riders