Pooran returns to form in Sunrisers win
Nicholas Pooran starred in a critical halfcentury stand that helped Sunrisers Hyderabad end a dreadful five-match losing streak with a narrow three-run win over luckless Mumbai Indians yesterday.
The West Indies white-ball captain struck 38 off 22 deliveries after entering at number four, helping to add 76 for the third wicket with Man-of-the-Match Rahul Tripathi who top-scored with 76 off 44 deliveries, as Sunrisers piled up 193 for six off their 20 overs.
In reply, Mumbai came close to overhauling the target, thanks to 48 from captain Rohit Sharma, 46 from Singaporean Tim David, and 43 from Ishan Kishan.
However, they required 19 from the last over which proved just out of their reach, with the last ball of the contest from Afghan left-armer Fazalhaq Farooqi disappearing out of the ground.
More significantly, the win kept alive Sunrisers’ slim hopes of a play-off spot. They lie sixth on 12 points, two adrift of breaking into the top four, with one match remaining, but will need other results to go their way even if they beat Punjab Kings on Sunday.
Mumbai, meanwhile, suffered their 10th defeat in 13 matches to remain bottom of the table.
Their out-of-form West Indies star Kieron Pollard, who recently quit international cricket, missed his second straight game.
Sent in at the Wankhede, Sunrisers lost Abhishek Sharma for nine in the third over with 18 runs on the board but rebounded through Tripathi who added 78 for the second wicket with opener Priyam Garg (42) before anchoring another half-century stand with Pooran.
Tripathi hit nine fours and three sixes while the left-handed Pooran slammed two fours and three sixes to make up for failures in his previous two innings.
Pooran eventually perished in the 17th over, caught low down at backward square of Australian quick Riley Meredith.
Needing to score at nearly 10 runs per over, Rohit blasted two fours and four sixes off 36 balls and Ishan, five fours and a six in a 34-ball knock, the pair posting 95 off 64 deliveries for the first wicket.
Once the partnership was broken, Mumbai lost five wickets for 49 balls to slide to 144 for five in the 17th over and not even a 31-run, sixth-wicket stand between David and Ramandeep Singh (14 not out) could rescue the chase.