HYDERABAD:A pumped-up Mumbai Indians smiled all the way to the playoffs with a thumping nine-wicket victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad in the do-or-die battle at Uppal Stadium here on Sunday.
SRH won the toss and elected to bat. But it backfired and MI had the last laugh. The match, as a contest, ended in the first session, thanks to an inexplicable batting collapse by the home side, who were dismissed for a poor 113. In response, Parthiv Patel (51 not out off 37 balls) and Lendl Simmons (48) made a mockery of the modest target as MI cantered home in 13.5 overs. Subsequently, MI and Royal Challengers finished with 16 points but the former took the second position behind Chennai Super Kings owing to more wins.
The fiery Mitchell McClenaghan (3 for 16) and Lasith Malinga (2 for 17 ) wrecked the top order and then spinners Jagadeesh Suchith (2 for 14) and Harbhajan Singh (1 for 18) left SRH rudderless. MI closed all the escape routes to dominate the first session. SRH’s scorecard was pathetic. For statistics, there were only eight boundaries and one six.
MI made massive inroads in the first two overs to push SRH onto the back foot. Shikhar Dhawan was done in by a yorker from Malinga in the first over. But SRH were in for a bigger shock when in-form skipper David Warner was dismissed a ball later. The Aussie left-hander, atop the run-getters’ list with 562 runs, made only six before top-edging a short ball from left-arm seamer McClenaghan, and the resultant skier was safely pocketed by Kieron Pollard at point.
A fired-up McClenaghan stunned the home crowd again, and this time with a short ball, to dismiss Eoin Morgan for 9. Trying to upper cut the Kiwi bowler, the England left-hander gave a catch to Simmons at third man.
They collapsed further, when left-arm spinner Suchith struck twice in his second over. Moises Henriques, who has been SRH’s main scorer after Warner, was foxed by Suchith to be stumped. The next delivery, Naman Ojha offered a catch to Rohit Sharma at covers. They slumped to 54 for 5 in 10 overs.
Harbhajan then scalped the important wicket of KL Rahul for 25. The Indian opener slammed two fours in his 24-ball 25 but he played on to Harbhajan to have SRH reeling at 65 for 6 in 13 overs.
There was a recovery of sorts when Karn Sharma and local lad Ashish Reddy were involved in a 23-run stand. But Pollard ejected Reddy, who was caught in the deep. McClenaghan came for this fourth and final spell and had Bhuvneshwar Kumar caught in deep covers. Dale Steyn struck two boundaries in the 19th over to give some cheer to the home crowd. But he could hardly make an impact with the ball, as Mumbai openers milked the SRH bowlers.
MI have the knack of bouncing back as they have been doing in the last two years. This year too, they lost the first four matches before they recorded their first win. They stitched a five-match winning streak and won the crucial match against KKR from a tricky juncture. Sunday’s top show, led by McClenaghan and Malinga, signaled their strong comeback.
Score Board
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Warner c Pollard b McClenaghan 6, Dhawan b Malinga 1, Henriques st Parthiv b Suchith 11, Morgan c Simmons b McClenaghan 9, Rahul b Harbhajan 25, Ojha c Rohit b Suchith 0, Karn c Suchith b Malinga 15, Ashish Reddy c Vinay Kumar b Pollard 17, Bhuvneshwar c Pandya b McClenaghan 0, Praveen (run out) 4, Steyn (not out) 19. Extras (lb 2, w 4) 6. Total (all out, 20 overs) 113. Fall of wickets: 1-7, 2-7, 3-23, 4-51, 5-51, 6-61, 7-84, 8-86, 9-91. Bowling: Malinga 4-0-17-2, McClenaghan 4-0-16-3, Vinay Kumar 3-0-21-0, Suchith 3-0-14-2, Pandya 1-0-11-0, Harbhajan 3-0-18-1, Pollard 2-0-14-1.
Mumbai Indians: Simmons c Dhawan b Karn 48, Parthiv (not out) 51, Rohit (not out) 7. Extras (b 1, lb 2, w 5) 8. Total (1 wicket, 13.5 overs) 114. Fall of wicket: 1-106. Bowling: Steyn 3-0-27-0, Bhuvneswar 3-0-16-0, Praveen 2-0-13-0, Henriques 3-0-17-0, Karn 2.5-0-38-1.