Hyderabad, May 8:
Putting up a dominant show, defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad spanked table-toppers Mumbai Indians by seven wickets in an IPL match to consolidate their fourth position in the table, here tonight.
Asked to bowl first, Hyderabad bowlers delivered in the crucial match, restricting the rivals to a modest 138 for seven, which was built around skipper Rohit Sharma’s fighting 67-run knock off 45 balls.
Paceman Siddarth Kaul took three wickets while the Afghanistan spin duo of Rashid Khan (1/22) and Mohammed Nabi (1/13) choked the Mumbai batsmen with impeccable line and length. Together they conceded only 35 runs in eight overs.
The total proved too small for the defending champions as they overhauled the target with 10 balls to spare as opener Shikhar Dhawan (62) led the way with an unbeaten half-century.
Hyderabad remained at fourth position but now have 15 points, five more than closest rival Kings XI Punjab. One more win, taking their tally to 17, will seal them a berth in the Play-offs because even if Punjab win their remaining three matches they can get maximum to 16 points.
Hyderabad lost their captain David Warner (6) early when he was trapped by Mitchell McClenaghan but Dhawan and Moises Henriques (44) took the match away from Mumbai with their fiery knocks.
They added 91 runs for the second wicket in 11 overs before Jasprit Bumrah dismissed the Australian in the 13th over. In the previous over Henriques was dropped by Harbhajan Singh off his own bowling.
Mumbai boasted an impressive Mumbai attack but Dhawan and Henriques batted with determination.
Dhawan’s 62 came off 46 balls with six boundaries, including two sixes while Henriques’ 44 came off 35 balls with six fours.
Dhawan finished the match in the company of Vijay Shankar (15) after cheap dismissal of Yuvraj Singh (9).
Earlier, the Mumbai Indians skipper added 60 runs for the fourth wicket Hardik Pandya (15) but Hyderabad bowlers never allowed the rivals to score freely with Siddarth Kaul (3/24) hurting them with an impressive three-wicket haul.
The hosts kept the Mumbai batsmen on a tight leash, giving away only 36 runs in the Power-play overs and also got rid of big-hitting Lendl Simmons (1) and Nitish Rana.
Nabi, preferred over Kane Williamson, struck with his fourth ball, clean bowling the West Indian while paceman Kaul scalped Rana (9).
Parthiv Patel (23) was dropped by Vijay Shankar immediately after Rana’s dismissal but the southpaw could not cash in on and soon became the second victim of Kaul to leave Mumbai reeling at 36 for three.
Hyderabad dried up the runs with the table-toppers managing only 59 runs at the half-way mark but Rohit and Pandya were still there.
Nabi completed his quota of overs in one go and conceded only 13 runs, playing his part in choking Mumbai. Warner smartly used all his five bowlers.
After opening the attack with Bhuvneshwar he brought the paceman back only in the 13th over.
Rohit and Pandya though kept the scoreboard ticking with singles and also found odd boundary in between. They added 60 runs for the fourth wicket before Rashid separated them by dismissing Pandya.
Kaul sent back Rohit in the 19th over and Kieron Pollard (5) also struggled to get some quick runs. (PTI)
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