The crucial Mumbai Indians Vs Sunrisers Hyderabad clash came down to Jasprit Bumrah and Rashid Khan — two of the best limited-overs bowlers — battling it out in a Super Over.
It was Bumrah who came out on top, while Rashid ran into an in-form Hardik Pandya as Mumbai sealed their play-offs berth with a thrilling win. Both sides were tied on 162, with Pandey stretching the game to the Super Over hitting Hardik for a last-ball six. Sunrisers, though, couldn’t quite do the job as they managed just eight runs in the Super Over, losing two wickets in four balls. Pandey, who had remained unbeaten on 71 off 47 in the chase, was run out first ball when he tried a second run. Mohammad Nabi, who had made a crucial 20-ball 31, hit Bumrah for a six but fell when he became too greedy and tried another big hit. Hyderabad couldn’t utilise two crucial balls, which would cost them big. Kane Williamson turned to Rashid for the Super Over despite having Bhuvneshwar Kumar, but Hardik made light work of the target hitting a straight six first ball.
Prior to the Super Over, Hyderabad had plenty of starts but none, barring Pandey, kicked on. Wriddhiman Saha led their charge early on with a 15-ball 25, while Martin Guptill, playing his first game of the season, scored 15 off 11. However, both fell to Jasprit Bumrah within the Power Play, exposing the untested and out-of-form middle order.
Hyderabad still managed 59 for 2 in the Power Play but their bigger challenge started then. They needed Kane Williamson to step up, but he fell lbw when he missed a sweep shot off Krunal Pandya. Mumbai won a successful review for a key wicket.
At one end, Pandey was striking cleanly and scoring briskly, racing to 21 off 10 when Williamson fell. Realising the need for a partnership, Pandey and Vijay Shankar nudged around for singles in the middle overs as spinners Krunal and Rahul Chahar bowled tidy spells.
But just when they needed the partnership to stretch, Vijay gave it away mishiting Krunal to long on. Abhishek Sharma too fell soon, leaving it all to Pandey.
Pandey and Nabi kept going, chipping away at the target with timely boundaries. The equation of 48 off 24 became 29 off 12, which eventually came down to 17 off 6 with Pandey slamming Bumrah for two boundaries in the penultimate over.
With Lasith Malinga having bowled out, Rohit Sharma had to turn to Hardik Pandya for the final over, although he had the option of Barinder Sran. Nabi made the equation gettable with a straight six of the third ball, before falling on the next. It all boiled down to 7 off the final ball, which Pandey smashed over long-on for a six to take the game into a Super Over.
This post was published on May 3, 2019 6:43 pm