Hyderabad: Mumbai Indians produced a clinical bowling display to brush aside the might of Sunrisers Hyderabad, winning by nine wickets in the final group stage match to advance to the Indian Premier League play-offs here on Sunday.
The Indians clinched the second spot in the standings with 16 points after the group stage with a superior run-rate, joining leaders Chennai Super Kings (18 from 14 matches), ahead of third-placed Royal Challengers Bangalore (16) and Rajasthan Royals (16) in fourth.
Mumbai made their task easier at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in a virtual knockout match when they bowled out Sunrisers for a mere 113.
And then they had no problems in chasing down the small total, with their openers making short work of the task.
West Indies batsman Lendl Simmons (48) and Parthiv Patel (51 not out) showed commendable understanding, mixing caution with aggression, to put together a solid 106-run opening stand that snuffed out any hopes Hyderabad might have harboured to make a match out of it.
Earlier, Hyderabad captain David Warner’s decision to bat after winning the toss backfired spectacularly as they ran into trouble from the very first over of their innings.
Shikhar Dhawan, one of their batting mainstays, departed for one, bowled by Sri Lankan pacer Lasith Malinga off the last ball of the first over, putting an end to his opening partnership with Warner that has been SRH’s key to big totals in the tournament.
But that was just the beginning of what was a miserable batting performance as they lost their skipper for six from the very next delivery, caught by Kieron Pollard off a Mitchell McClenaghan delivery.
With their two best batsmen back in the hut, there was no way out for SRH, who succumbed to the pressure by losing wickets at regular intervals.
Credit must be given to the entire Mumbai bowling line-up who delivered in unison, keeping up the pressure on SRH batsmen.
They bowled a probing line and length and swiftly reduced SRH to 51 for five inside 10 overs with Hyderabad’s other two dependable foreign imports, England’s Eoin Morgan (9) and Australia’s Moises Henriques (11) also back in the pavilion.
That broke the backbone of SRH’s batting. Any hope of posting a strong total went up in smoke as they stumbled along.
Mumbai’s pacers Malinga (2/17) and McClenaghan (3/16) were spectacular. They bowled in tandem and struck crucial blows.
Their good work was carried on by the slower bowlers, spearheaded by Harbhajan Singh (1/18).
