Hyderabad win
TOSS MATTERS
HYDERABAD: In the 11 matches before this, the team batting second had won 10 times. The only time a chasing team lost was when Sunrisers Hyderabad were batted out by Royal Challengers Bangalore in a high scoring clash last week.
Both Mumbai Indians and Sunrisers Hyderabad came into this match on the back of disappointing losses. Both made one change each this match. While Mumbai Indians went for an inexplicable batting order shuffling experiment that involved demoting opener Rohit Sharma, Hyderabad stuck to their combination of Shikhar Dhawan and David Warner.
A captain’s knock of 90 by Warner ensured Hyderabad’s stance paid them handsomely. This was close to the perfect game they were seeking. For the first time, their bowling, fielding and batting complemented each other. To come back from an eight-wicket thrashing and restrict a famed batting lineup to just 142 spoke of the potential Hyderabad’s bowling attack possesses when they are focused.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar was not only getting lovely shape on the ball, he was also the most economical at 4.25 runs per over. Moises Henriques proved his utility by stealing four overs for just 23. Bipul Sharma was carted for runs but Barinder Sran and Mustafizur Rahman ensured Mumbai didn’t break free in the death overs.
DHAWAN FAILS AGAIN Mumbai’s poor outing with the bat gave hope to Hyderabad. But there were still 143 runs to get in conditions conducive for pacers. The kind of rough patch Dhawan has hit now, any team would give themselves a chance of getting early breakthroughs. MUMBAI INDIANS Monday was no different. Often dismissed by innocuous deliveries, this time though it took a beautiful yorker from Tim Southee to break Dhawan’s defence.
But Mumbai’s strategy against Warner was questionable. To try and bounce out one of the best players of short ball was amateurish. Warner ensured Mumbai didn’t get away with that, hooking and pulling fiercely every time they dropped it short. Spin from both ends could have tested the Australian opener, as showed by Harbhajan’s first over that went for just four runs. But Sharma didn’t immediately bring Krunal Pandya from the other end.
COMING ON NICELY
Pace on the ball was just Warner wanted. Sharma gave him plenty to feed on. Warner started with a huge six off extra cover that immediately put Mitchell McClenaghan on the backfoot. In the absence of a stable partner though, Warner didn’t fly off the handle till the equation had titled in their favour.
There was a period of consolidation where Warner just concentrated on rotating the strike by threading the ball through gully and off his legs. This continued for 18 deliveries before Warner finally broke the shackles by clubbing Hardik through midwicket. From there on, Warner treaded a fine balance between hitting those occasional boundaries and running hard between wickets till in the 18th over where he finished the game with two massive sixes.