Kishan and Yadav knocks go in vain as MI exit fighting
MUMBAI: It has been a frustrating campaign for defending champions, Mumbai Indians (MI). Their famed batting line-up hadn’t clicked for most part of the second leg. Much of the blame was on the Indian duo of Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav. On Friday, against the bottom-placed Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), on a batting paradise at the Shaikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi, both came alive: Kishan provided the impetus in the first half; after his departure Yadav took charge.
Opening the innings, Kishan batted like a man possessed to smash 84 off 32 balls. Yadav capitalised on the platform provided by hitting a blistering 82 off 40. The duo’s heroics helped MI amass 235/9, their highest total ever in the IPL. It is also the highest total by any team this season.
Going into the last game of the league phase, MI needed to beat SRH by 171 runs to get their net run rate (-0.048) above that of Kolkata Knight Riders’ (0.587). It left them a target of restricting SRH to 65 or less to get through to the playoffs. However, MI’s dream was doused inside six overs with SRH racing to 70 for one. Openers Jason Roy and Abhishek Sharma added 64 runs in just 5.2 overs; Manish Pandey, standing in for Kane Williamson as captain, also showed his class with a fine unbeaten half-century to take the fight to MI. SRH finished on 193 for eight to take down MI with them.
Once the result became inconsequential, the main point of interest left was whether Hardik Pandya would bowl. The MI player has been picked in the India squad for the T20 World Cup for his all-round skills. Not bowling again should leave his spot vulnerable. The teams are allowed to make changes till October 10.
Never mind the result, it was a sensational batting effort by MI. The inspiration was provided by the young Kishan. He went out and hammered the fastest fifty of IPL 2021, getting to the mark in 16 balls, beating the season’s record that was previously held by teammate Kieron Pollard (17 balls). During MI’s 80-run opening stand off 33 balls, Kishan’s contribution was 61 off 20 balls against Rohit Sharma’s 18 off 13. After smashing the first ball he faced for a six, slogging off-spinner Mohammed Nabi over deep midwicket, Kishan hit Siddharth Kaul for four successive fours to plunder 18 runs of the second over. Despite leg-spinner Rashid Khan’s tight sixth over, MI scored 83 in the powerplay with Kishan making 63 of them in 22 balls. If Kishan was all power, Yadav was like a touch artiste, toying with the field with clever wrist play and sure footwork.
When the opener was out with the total on 124 in the 10th over, MI still needed to double the total in their next 10 to stay in the hunt for the playoffs. Having found his rhythm, Yadav took the onus to take his team close to their target. Overs 10 to 13 proved tough to break the shackles for MI, with just 7, 8, 7 and five runs coming off it.
Brief scores:
MI 235/9 (Suryakumar Yadav 82, Ishan Kishan 84; Jason Holder 4/52). Sunrisers 193/8 (Manish Pandey 69 not out; Jasprit Bumrah 2/39).