The pattern of chasing teams struggling in the fag end at the MA Chidambaram stadium in Chennai continued as Mumbai Indians (MI) beat Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by 13 runs in Match no. 9 of IPL 2021 on Saturday.
Chasing 151, SRH got off to a solid start but they fell apart and were bowled out for 137 in 19.4 overs. Rahul Chahar (3/19), Trent Boult (3/28) and Jasprit Bumrah (1/14) were the stars of the night as SRH choked.
Also, all-rounder Hardik Pandya was right on the money as he affected a couple of run-outs against the Orange Army. Firstly, he hit the stumps directly to dismiss the dangerous-looking David Warner for 36 in the 12th over and then ran out young Abdul Samad when SRH needed 22 off 15.
Hardik’s brilliance on the field made sure that MI keep a tight leash on the Sunrisers.
Earlier, SRH restricted MI’s strong batting line-up to 150 for five in their 20 overs. Mujeeb Ur Rahman (2/29) and Vijay Shankar (2/19) shared four wickets between them, while Quinton de Kock (40 off 39) top-scored for MI.
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— Cricsphere (@Cricsphere) April 17, 2021
After the game, Hardik revealed the secret behind his throw to run-out Warner. The 27-year-old reckoned that his primary focus was to get the ball in his hand before taking a shy at the stumps.
“I just make sure that the ball is in my hand and then target the stumps. To be honest, the run-out of Warner, I wasn’t expecting him to be that far, I just wanted to take aim and hit, and only then I realised that he was well short,” he said after MI’s thrilling win over SRH.
Hailing the team’s character, Hardik said it was the bowlers who brought Mumbai back in the game.
“We have a lot of character as a team, they got to a great start, but our bowlers pulled them back nicely, bowled good line and lengths, made sure that the pressure was built. Rahul Chahar, Krunal and all the others – we bowled as a unit, held the nerves and used all the opportunities that came our way.”
