Mumbai edge Hyderabad in topsy-turvy run-chase

The Mumbai Indians kept their winning momentum going in IPL 2023 as they beat the Sunrisers Hyderabad by 14 runs to register their third victory on the bounce this season. Led by Cameron Green’s half-century, Rohit Sharma’s side posted a commanding total of 192 in the first innings before picking up enough wickets throughout the chase to secure an impressive win away from home against Hyderabad.

Having been put into bat, the Mumbai openers continued their positive approach in the powerplay as Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan laced 43 runs in the opening 4.3 overs. The skipper carved Washington Sundar for three fours to pass the 6000-run milestone in the IPL but couldn’t convert his start into a big score and was out-foxed by a Natarajan slower ball for 28.

Cameron Green and Ishan Kishan struggled for fluency after Sharma’s dismissal, with the SRH spinners – Markande and Sundar – getting the ball to grip. The left-hander broke the shackles with a pair of boundaries against Markande in the 10th over but miscued a short ball to Aiden Markram at mid-off on 38. Markram also took a wonderful diving catch to dismiss Suryakumar Yadav later in the over, reducing Mumbai to 95 for 3 in 12 overs.

However, Tilak Varma ensured that the visitors maximised the final eight overs of their innings with a stunning cameo of 41 from 17. The left-hander crushed Marco Jansen for two sixes and sprayed Mayank Markande to all parts of the ground to add some momentum to Mumbai’s innings. A knuckle ball from Bhuvneshwar Kumar removed the dangerous youngster, but Cameron Green switched through the gears to take Mumbai close to 200. After struggling early on, Green found his timing. The all-rounder launched Natarajan for four boundaries in a single over to bring up his maiden IPL half-century and helped Mumbai add 83 runs in the final five overs to post a winning total.

Chasing 193, SRH suffered a terrible start as Harry Brook and Rahul Tripathi fell inside the powerplay to Jason Behrendorff. Aiden Markram looked good after a sedate start but mistimed a pull shot off Cameron Green to the fielder at deep square leg. Promoted to hit the spinners, Abhishek Sharma also holed out in the deep off Piyush Chawla, leaving SRH reeling at 72 for 4 in 9.1 overs.

Heinrich Klaasen staged a brief recovery, blasting Piyush Chawla for two fours and two sixes in the 14th over. However, the South African fell to Chawla’s googly for 37, while Mayank Agarwal and Marco Jansen handed Tim David another pair of straightforward catches at long-on as Mumbai’s inexperienced bowling attack held on to clinch a 14-run victory, lifting Rohit Sharma’s side to 6th in the points table.