Unadkat, Sundar tie Mumbai in knots to set up thrilling end
HYDERABAD: Mumbai Indians were thrice upstaged by Rising Pune Supergiant ahead of Sunday’s IPL final, but they still would not have bargained for the suffocating start inflicted on them.
In the end, MI pulled off a thrilling one-run win as the lowest total in an IPL final was defended, but till then two RPS bowlers seemed to have done the job.
Left-arm paceman Jaydev Unadkat and off-spinner Washington Sundar, 17, the youngest to feature in an IPL final, combined to reduce Mumbai Indians to 11/2 in four overs. The former champions were denied a boundary in the first five overs, sucking all positivity.
Unadkat continued his love affair with the Rajiv Gandhi International stadium.
He took 5/30 against Sunrisers Hyderabad in a league game. In that match, Unadkat became the first Indian bowler to take two five-wicket hauls in IPL, and the third player in this edition to take a hattrick. Unadkat, 25, opened the bowling and promptly gauged the right areas to bowl. He bowled with a scrambled seam and found purchase from the deck, giving two runs in the first over.
Sundar beat Ravindra Jadeja’s mark of 19 years as the youngest in an IPL final, for winners Rajasthan Royals in 2008 . In the pre-match press conference on Saturday, captain Steve Smith had lavished praise him. “For a 17-year-old to come out and perform against some quality
players is outstanding. The young guys have been a real big part of our success throughout this tournament.”
Sundar again relied on his strengths, accuracy and right pace. Thanks to his economical first over, pressure mounted on MI and Unadkat capitalised by removing Parthiv Patel and Lendl Simmons in his second over. Unadkat’s (2/19) second wicket was a beauty. Lendl Simmons looked to work it to leg, but popped a return catch. The bowler dived full length to his left and plucked a one-handed catch inches off the turf.
Unadkat ended with 24 wickets in 12 games, only behind Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s record haul of 26. Sundar’s 4-0-13-0 helped him end with an economy rate of 6.16, the best in the league.