CHENNAI: Between 7.30 PM and 9.00 PM, one of the strangest 20 overs in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL) unfurled. A batter walked, stopped and walked again after assuming the bowling team was going to appeal. He was convinced he had nicked down the leg side. Curiously enough, the bowling side never really appealed. The umpire wasn't too sure whether to give the batter out but he did the raise the finger. The sequence of events had an apt ending when UltraEdge held that Ishan Kishan's bat did not connect with the ball.
Sandwiching that moment was Sunrisers Hyderabad's latest effort at trying to drive a car after throwing the keys out, removing the steering wheel and filling a petrol tank with water. In the end, they got to 143. That, though, doesn't even begin to tell the story of the innings that briefly threatened Royal Challengers Bengaluru's 49.
For starters, while the other Mumbai Indians bowlers had a lot of fun under the floodlights, Jasprit Bumrah conceded 1/39 off his four overs, his joint-sixth worst ever figures across 59 T20 matches since the beginning of 2021. It wasn't his night. It also wasn't Vignesh Puthur's night. The left-arm wristspinner bowled one over, conceded two fours and a six and was hooked, substituted for Rohit Sharma with four overs to go in the first innings.
But Mumbai Indians, who have now won four on the spin, had other bowlers who stood up to be counted on a surface being used for a third time this edition. Why would the hosts, with all their batting power, want to play on an already twice-used surface? That, though, is a story for another day.
On a strip with some moment for the new ball, it can sometimes be difficult to line the bowler up. It can also be difficult to access areas of the park you want. Travishek, yet to really catch fire in 2025, were both sent by classic Trent Boult deliveries. For Travis Head, a hint of away moment just took the ball away from his swinging arc. The outside edge flew to point half-way back from the boundary. For Abhishek Sharma, the knuckle-ball did him. The Kiwi's slightly pace off ball lured the southpaw into a full-blooded drive and cover point completed the catch.
By the point, Kishan had come and gone. Other batters followed soon after as the Mumbai bowlers just did the basics right. There were no hostile spells of bowling, no high pace yorkers or a spinner turning it both ways. It was a normal team doing normal things against a side who were trying to hit their way out of trouble.
That really has been their undoing. Not just on Wednesday but almost throughout the campaign. These batch of balls have swung more across phases than in 2024 (the lifting of the saliva ban has probably helped) but that can only partly explain the issues the team in Orange are having at the moment.
When they built this roster at the mega auction, there was some logic. With an emphasis on power hitting through to No. 7, they were banking on at least two of those coming off every match. It's perhaps unlucky they are all off the boil at the same time but the fact remains that this is a team devoid of any confidence now.
Sometimes, you have to keep swinging and hope for a few jammy boundaries or a couple of sixes. They will have to keep telling themselves that if they want to persist with their front-foot approach.
It can work. Sometimes. All they have to do is look at Rohit. After a lean phase, the opener struck another 50 to ensure the five-time champions suffered no hiccups.
This strange match had an ending befitting the occasion. A Hyderabad fielder not only dropping a catch but parrying the ball and it trickling over the ropes for a Mumbai win.
Brief scores: SRH 143/8 in 20 ovs (Klaasen 71, Abhinav 43, Boult 4/26, Chahar 2/12) lost to MI 146/3 in 15.4 ovs (Rohit 70, Suryakumar 40 n.o).
