The Sunrisers Hyderabad, defending 118, bowled out the Mumbai Indians for 87 in Mumbai to secure a 31-run victory.
It was a game of records, none of which would be held up proudly. The Sunrisers held the Chennai Super Kings to lowest powerplay score this season with 27-1 last time out, and the lowest 10-over total of 54-2. (And still they lost).
The Mumbai Indians, on home ground, beat both: they were 22-3 after the powerplay and 52-3 after 10 overs.
Whereas the Sunrisers were beaten by Ambati Rayudu’s 79 off 37, there was no one in the Mumbai team to even remotely match that.
Their best score was Suryakumar Yadav’s 34 off 38 (with just four fours), followed by Krunal Pandya’s 24. No other batsman reached double figures.
They put on 40 for the fourth wicket, but when that partnership was broken, the defending champions lost their last seven wickets for just 27.
It’s the the lowest successfully defended total in the IPL since 2009 and the lowest ever on Indian soil.
The defending champions really needed this one, having registered one win from five matches, and they must have been encouraged by their bowling performance when they dismissed the Sunrisers for 118.
Kane Williamson, who almost singlehandedly kept the Sunrisers in the game against Chennai with a terrific knock of 84, was again the top scorer in this match – but with only 29. Yusuf Pathan (who also hit the only six in the innings) matched that late on, but they could not have imagined that it would be enough.
Seamer Siddarth Kaul picked up 3-23 and Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan snapped up 2-11 with his googlies and leg-spinners.
Photo: Faheem Hussain / SPORTZPICS
