Sunrisers Hyderabad prevail over Mumbai Indians in thriller

The 11th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is still in its initial days, but if early signs are to be believed, former champions Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) have already set a pattern of restricting their opposition to modest totals and clinching victories.

And the tournament has also seen at least three thrilling last-over finishes in only its first seven games. Mumbai were involved in two of these and they would be disappointed being on the losing end both the times. After their emphatic nine-wicket hammering of the Rajasthan Royals (RR), the Kane Williamson-led side had set out on a similar path but Mayank Markande’s 4/23 and two late wickets for Jasprit Bumrah handed them a real scare. However, SRH managed to go past the finish line courtesy Deepak Hooda’s 32 not out, as he stayed till the end to prevent Mumbai from notching up their first win in IPL 2018. The winning run came off No 11 Billy Stanlake’s bat who hit the ball over the close-in fielders to hand SRH their second win in as many games. With 11 needed off the final over, Hooda clobbered a six over cover to put Ben Cutting under pressure on the first ball, who followed it up with a wide that brought SRH right back into the contest. A couple of singles and the winning hit did the job for SRH.

Chasing 149 to win, SRH finished at 151/9 in their 20 overs. The win was not easy. SRH’s chase was rocked by a superb four-for by the 20-year-old leg-spinner Markande, who not only applied breaks on the home team’s march but gave Mumbai Indians a realistic hope to pull off a victory. Having restricted Mumbai Indians to a modest 148/9 after putting them in to bat, SRH felt the heat when they lost wickets in a flurry. After Shikhar Dhawan and Wriddhiman Saha provided them a strong start by adding 62 runs, Markande drew the first blood by trapping Saha (22) in the seventh over — his first — and went on to take a wicket in each of his next three overs to finish at 4-0-23-4. Brief scores: Mumbai Indians 147/8 in 20 overs. Sunrisers Hyderabad 151/9 in 20 overs.