Mumbai Indians notched-up their third win of the season with a 34-run victory against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League on Sunday.
Electing to bat first in Sharjah, Mumbai posted 208/5 in their 20 overs. Rashid Khan 1/22 and T Natarajan 0/29 bowled economical spells but Siddarth Kaul’s spell of 2/64 proved to be costly for Sunrisers.
The men in orange were in the game till the halfway point of their innings, but lost steam at the back end and finished with 174/7.
David Warner and Co went in with two changes to their playing XI – Bhuvneshwar Kumar (injured) and Khaleel Ahmed made way for Kaul and Sandeep Sharma.
Captain Warner top-scored with 60 off 44 and Manish Pandey got a 19-ball 30 at No 3, but the other batsmen couldn’t get going as Mumbai closed out the game.
For the defending champions, Trent Boult, James Pattinson and Jasprit Bumrah got two wickets each.
Earlier, Quinton de Kock worked his way back to form with a 39-ball 67 before Krunal Pandya’s big-hitting powered Mumbai Indians to a formidable 208/5.
The swashbuckling duo of Hardika Pandya (28) and Kieron Pollard (25 not out) scored at their usual brisk pace but it was Krunal Pandya who propelled MI past 200 with 20 runs off a mere four deliveries in the last over bowled by Siddarth Kaul.
Rohit Sharma plonked Sandeep Sharma over mid-wicket for a six to start the proceedings but the MI skipper was out caught behind the very next ball as he chased a wide delivery, only to nick it to Jonny Bairstow.
The on-field umpire Richard Illingworth was not convinced by Sandeep’s loud appeal but the review went in favour of his team.
Suryakumar Yadav struck six boundaries, including a couple of pleasing drives, in his 18-ball 27 before being dismissed by Kaul, who was picked for this game in place of Khaleel Ahmed.
At the other end, de Kock worked the ball around nicely in between playing the big shots, as Mumbai Indians maintained a healthy run rate and looked on course for a competitive total.
After 10 overs, MI were 91/2 with de Kock looking in fine touch at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
Playing in place of the injured Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Sandeep had done more than what was expected of him in his first two overs, sending back the in-from Rohit early.
But MI have enough firepower in their batting lineup and recovered from the early blow with de Kock leading the charge.
However, the seasoned South African, who reached his half century with a six straight over the bowler’s head, got out after Rashid Khan took a fine running catch off his own bowling to signal the arrival of Hardik.
Pandya would have been dismissed cheaply but David Warner could not hold on to a difficult chance at the boundary.
Manish Pandey, who had spilled one earlier in the day, made up for that with a sensational catch to send back Ishan Kishan for a 23-ball 31. Pollard and Hardik then did what they do best even though T Natarajan bowled some brilliant yorkers to check the run-flow.
(With inputs from PTI)