Mumbai book playoffs berth with win over SRH in super over thriller
Mumbai Indians’ Quinton de Kock (left) plays a shot as Sunrisers Hyderabad wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha looks on during their IPL match on Thursday. Agence France-Presse
Earlier, Mumbai Indians rode opener Quinton de Kock’s valiant knock of 69 (unbeaten) off 58 balls to post 162/5 in 20
while Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) leveled the score for the loss of six wickets.
Despite getting little support from the other end, de Kock kept his cool and helped the three-time champions reach a respectable total. The opener’s knock contained six boundaries and two hits into the stands.
Opting to bat, Mumbai were off to a decent but cautious start with scoreboard reading 26/0 in the initial three overs. While Rohit Sharma (24 off 18) clobbered Hyderabad bowlers, de Kock played second fiddle to the Mumbai captain.
Khaleel Ahmed drew the first blood for his side and sent back a dangerous looking Rohit in the sixth over, leaving Mumbai at 36/1. The Mumbai skipper played an overambitious pull-shot on a delivery that bounced a bit more and popped up in the air only to be caught by Mohammed Nabi at mid-on.
Incoming batsman Suryakumar Yadav (23 off 17) and de Kock then tried to repair the early damage, adding 54 runs for the second wicket. Just when the home side were approaching the three-digit mark, Khaleel struck again to break the partnership. He cut short Suryakumar’s stay in the middle, reducing Mumbai to 90/2 in 11.2 overs.
Nabi spelled further trouble for Mumbai and just after the addition of a run, he packed back Evin Lewis (1 off 6) in the 13th over.
Hardik Pandya then played a quick 10-ball 18, with the help of a four and a six. But the Mumbai all-rounder failed to spend much time in the middle as Bhuvneshwar Kumar applied brakes on his innings in the 16th over, with Mumbai placed at 119/4.
Kieron Pollard (10 off 9) and de Kock then shared a short 32-run partneship for the fifth wicket, helping their side cross the 150-run mark in 18.5 overs. Pollard was dismissed in the final over by Khaleel before Krunal Pandya chipped in with an unbeaten 9 off three balls as Mumbai reached a fighting total.
For the visitors, Khaleel bagged three wickets for 42 runs and Bhuvneshwar and Nabi got one wicket each.
Meanwhile, Trent Boult’s final-over humiliation at the hands of MS Dhoni in the tournament on Wednesday only added to a sense of unease about how New Zealand’s best players are tracking ahead of the World Cup.
Former India captain Dhoni was in vintage form as he smashed the spearhead of New Zealand’s bowling attack for a four and two sixes as the Chennai Super Kings took 21 runs from Boult’s final over to post an impressive 179 for four.
Boult’s Delhi Capitals were then dismissed for 99 runs in the 17th over at the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium to allow the Super Kings to move above the visitors at the top of the table.
As troubling as it was to see Boult leaking so many runs, New Zealand fans might be as much concerned by how little he and his compatriots have played in the marquee Twenty20 tournament this year.
One of the key players in a New Zealand side that reached the final of the 50-overs showpiece in 2015, Boult had not bowled a ball in anger since March 24 before Wednesday’s match.
What was only his second IPL match of the year started well enough when he conceded just two runs in his first two overs but that was followed by 14 runs in his third then the final-over onslaught to leave him with figures of 0-37.
Dhoni, who led India to their 2011 World Cup triumph and has been included in the squad for this year’s edition in England and Wales, finished with 44 not out from 22 balls and was named man of the match.
Indo-Asian News Service
