IPL 10, Match 48, SRH v MI Review: Shikhar Dhawan leads Sunrisers to an easy win over table toppers

Sunrisers Hyderabad after playing some extraordinary cricket had put themselves in a spot of bother. They went from second to fourth within a span of 3 matches and now were threatened by the lower half teams for the playoff spot. However, they had a chance today to get back on track again but they were facing the mighty Mumbai Indians. Mumbai is the first team to make it to the playoffs and deservedly so.

They have played some magnificent cricket over the past month or so and have been rewarded for the same. However, today was a different day for Mumbai as the intent was not there. They looked fatigued and Sunrisers were full of energy. Mumbai Indians won the toss and decided to bat and the decision was wrong. Rohit found his team struggling at 36 for 3 at the end of the powerplay.

It was the skipper’s inning that brought them on track. Mohammad Nabi and Siddharth Kaul started the bowling attack for Hyderabad extremely well. The dangerous Lendl Simmons was cleaned apart by Nabi and Kaul accounted for the next two batters including the in form Nitish Rana. This left Mumbai struggling at 36 for 3 after six overs.

Rohit Sharma steadied the ship as he webbed a 60-run partnership with Hardik Pandya. After this, the wickets kept on tumbling as Bhuvaneshwar Kumar got rid of Kieron Pollard and Karn Sharma. Rohit also followed after playing an impressive inning of 67 of just 45 balls. He hit six boundaries and two sixes in his inning. Hyderabad bowlers bowled extremely well as Kaul picked up 3 wickets and Bhuvaneshwar Kumar grabbed two. Mohammad Nabi also bowled superbly as he gave away just 13 runs in his four overs.

This meant that Hyderabad needed just 139 runs to win in their 20 overs. They were not going to take it easy as SRH had lost a game chasing just 149 against Rising Pune Supergiant. The chase started badly for Hyderabad as they lost their captain in the second over. But Moises Henriques and Shikhar Dhawan built a strong 91-run partnership in 60 oddballs. Dhawan went on to score another half century as he remained not out.

Henriques, on the other hand, fell six short of fifty as he was caught by Rohit Sharma off Jasprit Bumrah. Yuvraj Singh came in to bat but started off slowly as they needed less than run a ball to win the game. The southpaw scored just 9 runs from 11 deliveries before slicing one to deep extra cover. Dhawan was still going strong.

Vijay Shankar the young Indian batter did the finishing job for Hyderabad. Sunrisers Hyderabad won the game comprehensively by 7 wickets in the 19th over of the game as Dhawan remained unbeaten with a score of 62 of 46. He hit 4 boundaries and 2 sixes.

This win increased the gap between the fourth and the fifth position as the chances of the other teams to enter the playoffs look glum.

Brief Scores –

SRH vs MI – SRH won by 7 wickets.

Mumbai Indians – 138/7 20 Overs (Sharma 67, Patel 23, Kaul 3/24, Kumar 2/29)

Sunrisers Hyderabad – 139/3 18.2 Overs (Dhawan 62, Henriques 44, Bumrah 1/24)

Check out full scorecard here

Check out Points table here