The last league match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) was expected to be a thrilling game after the 55 matches. It was a game between the top-placed Mumbai Indians (MI) and the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), with the latter having a do-or-die game. For the MI fanatics, it was a delightful sight when Rohit Sharma came out to toss but he lost it and MI was asked bat first by the SRH skipper, David Warner.
Rohit failed to do much with the bat as he chipped the ball straight to Warner off Sandeep Sharma. It was a two-paced track in Sharjah and utilizing it well, Sharma cleaned up Quinton de Kock (25 from 13). Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan continued to play the waiting game as Rashid Khan tied them up from one end. Making a partnership of 42 runs for the third wicket, the partnership was broken in the 11th over, when Yadav attempted to punch one from Shahbaz Nadeem, only to see Wriddhiman Saha whip the bails off.
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From a decent position of 81/2, MI came down to 82/5 in no time as Nadeem’s slower one entrapped Krunal, who lobbed it straight to Williamson at short midwicket, whereas Rashid Khan managed to scalp the wicket of Saurabh Tiwary on his wrong’un, and his edge was grabbed by Saha. A late dash from Kieron Pollard – who managed to smash four sixes and a couple of boundaries during his 41-run blinder – helped MI to reach a decent score of 149.
In what turned out to be a one-sided game, the SRH openers, David Warner and Wriddhiman Saha aced with ease. After a watchful start, the duo launched an all-out attack at the MI bowlers with some breath-taking strokes and made the MI’s bowling unit searching for answers.
Warner and Saha added 56 runs in the first six overs but did not get cautious, unlike the past. They carried forward the momentum, both the batsmen took their partnership to 88 in 10 overs, thereby bringing the required run rate below 6. Both the strikers played sensibly, ensured to rotate the strike, did not miss the loose balls, as they also kept on smashing boundaries at regular intervals.
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None of the MI bowlers managed to put any trouble to the SRH openers, and, banking on their exceptional start, SRH went on to thrash MI by 10 wickets. It was a spectacular performance by the Orange Army in all the aspects of the match. The win has cemented their much-deserved spot in the slot in the playoff, and they will meet Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Eliminator.
Hits
David Warner
David Warner has been doing well in the IPL 2020 ever since his first game and all eyes were on him and he started his innings cautiously, after hitting a hat-trick of fours in the 4th over, there was no looking back for Warner as he smashed 85 off 58 balls with the help of ten fours and a six.
Wriddhiman Saha
Wriddhiman Saha continued the momentum as he has been playing a stable knock as a replacement of Jonny Bairstow. He smashed 58 off just 45 balls. He built solid partnerships with Warner by adding 151 runs without losing any wicket. He smashed seven 4s and a six.
Flops
James Pattinson
James Pattinson never looked at his best against the SRH batsmen as he gave away 16 runs in his first over itself and when he came out to bowl in the 16th over, he conceded just 7 runs, but it was too late by then.
Krunal Pandya
Krunal Pandya had an extremely bad day at the office and most importantly, he failed to break the partnership which he has been known for in recent games. He conceded 37 runs in his 3.1 overs while the rest of the Mumbai bowlers were expensive too.
