Shikhar soars, Eagles peak
Opener smashes unbeaten 73 as Sunrisers take down formidable Mumbai Indians
Shikhar Dhawan dished out a powerful performance at the top of the order as Sunrisers kept their home record intact to maul ‘mighty’ Mumbai by seven wickets and cruise to their fourth successive win at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium here on Wednesday night. Needless to say, the result drove the Hyderabadis into delirium.
After restricting an explosive Mumbai line-up to a lowly 129 for 4 on a slow pitch, the hosts turned the heat on to singe their fancied opponents as they chased down the target with two overs to spare.
But the drum roll should be played for opener Dhawan, who launched a calculated assault on his former IPL team to remain unbeaten on a scintillating 73 that anchored the chase to perfection.
Dhawan’s knock came off 55 balls, nine of which crashed against the boundary rope and one sailed over it. His third wicket partnership with local boy G.H. Vihari (25, 23 balls) yielded 74 runs off 57 balls that effectively sealed the deal for the hosts.
Earlier, Mumbai huffed and puffed as they crawled to a meek total after electing to bat. Double strikes by Ishant Sharma and Amit Mishra in the fifth and 13th overs respectively drilled gaping holes in the visitors’ line-up.
Opener Dwayne Smith began with a bang by smashing leg-spinner Karan Sharma straight down the ground for a boundary off the first ball of the innings and then sent Ishant Sharma soaring over long-on for a six but that was all the pace Mumbai could muster, until the last over of the innings, in which they rattled 16 runs.
The much anticipated contest between Sachin Tendulkar and Dale Steyn did not quite take off. The Master started with an edge before getting his timing right but Ishant Sharma beat the ‘big bat’ fair and square to shatter his stumps after he had made just 14. Two balls later, Dinesh Karthik hit straight to Karan Sharma at point as Mumbai slipped further.
Captain Rohit Sharma and Smith then collected runs in a trickle to steady Mumbai with a 42-run stand for the third wicket. It would have been worse for the visitors had Ishant held on to a comfortable catch offered by Smith at long-off while he was on 25 in the 11th over bowled by Amit Mishra. It was a double whammy as the ball tipped over the boundary for a six.
However, the speedster made amends when the Mumbai skipper, under pressure to up the ante, hit the same bowler in the next over to him and he gleefully accepted the catch. Mishra got rid of Smith too in the same over, a contentious LBW, to reduce Mumbai to 79 for 4 in the 13th over.
Thereafter, Rayudu and Pollard couldn’t quite middle the ball but managed to put together 50 runs in a stuttering stand.