CHENNAI: A spot in the IPL playoffs has to be earned the hard way. Ask any team, it doesn't come easy. From that point of view, Sunrisers Hyderabad's task was made easier in Tuesday's must-win match against Mumbai Indians, who rested three key players.
Taking full advantage, David Warner's men posted a 10-wicket win to book their place in the last-four for a fifth consecutive time. The skipper led from the front, aided by Wriddhiman Saha.
Having already sealed top spot in the league table, Mumbai were understandably low on intensity.
They left out Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult, Hardik Pandya and brought back Rohit Sharma, who had missed the last four games with a hamstring injury.
Hyderabad were expectedly pumped up, showing intent on the field and an urge to make things happen. Although catches were dropped, a spring in their steps was unmistakable.
They still had a job to do because letting Mumbai off to a big total would have complicated things. After Rohit's departure for four in the third over and losing Quinton de Kock in the fifth, Mumbai were in it.
Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan had taken the total to 81/2 after 10 overs before Hyderabad bounced back.
It became 82/5 and in spite of a 25-ball 41 from Kieron Pollard, Mumbai failed to put up a challenging total.
While Sandeep Sharma, Jason Holder and T Natarajan did a good job with the ball for Hyderabad, Shahbaz Nadeem was a revelation.
Left-arm spinners are not often successful in IPL. But the bowler from Jharkhand was clever and kept batsmen guessing to return figures of 4-0-19-2. It meant that even though Rashid Khan (4-0-32-1) had an average day, the team did not suffer. Other than a series of full tosses towards the end, there was no loose stuff.
If their effort with the ball was commendable, Hyderabad's batting was a cruise. Surprisingly again, it was Saha who went after the bowlers early on.
After hitting Nathan Coulter-Nile for a four and six in the second over, the wicketkeeper struck two fours off Dhawal Kulkarni in the next.
Warner joined the party in the fourth over by hitting James Pattinson for three fours and after five overs, Hyderabad's total read 56/0.
It was relentless after that and Mumbai had nothing to counter the left-right pair. Pattinson, Rahul Chahar and Krunal Pandya went for plenty.
While Warner remained unbeaten on 85 off 58, Saha struck 58 not out off 45 balls. Returning to the side after a long gap, Saha had scores of 87 and 39 in the last two games.
Not many expected him to fill in the shoes of Jonny Bairstow, but he has exceeded expectations.
November 5: Qualifier 1: Mumbai vs Delhi.
November 6: Eliminator: Hyderabad vs Bangalore.
Brief scores: Mumbai 149/8 in 50 ovs (Pollard 41, Sandeep 3/34) lost to Hyderabad 151/0 in 17. 1 ovs (Warner 85 n.o, Saha 58 n.o).