Mumbai Indians had to pull off a big win to book a place in the knockouts.
MI knew they had to get to a big total if they had to qualify for the play-offs. For that to happen, their net run rate had to be better than Kolkata Knight Riders’s.
- SCORECARD
And so, Rohit Sharma did the obvious thing on winning the toss — opted to bat first.
Mumbai got off to a flyer, thanks mainly to Ishan Kishan (84 off 32) who looked menacing from the get go. Rohit looked a little scratchy although he did get a few boundaries and raced to 41 in just three overs.
Even after Rohit’s dismissal in the 6th over, Ishan showed the bowlers no mercy. He was intent on taking on the bowlers and he did so with all his might.
None of his shots were ugly, as he slapped the ball through covers, through mid-wicket and through any and every corner of the ground.
Be it Jason Holder, quickie Umran Malik or leggie Rashid Khan, they were reduced to mere spectators as Ishan took the licence to free his arms at will.
He completed his half-century through a lucky boundary through mid-wicket in the 4th over and it came off just 16 deliveries.
He was finally dismissed for 84 off just 32 balls when he miscued a shot and was taken by wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha.
Just when SunRisers would have thought their woes lessened by that dismissal, in came Surya Kumar Yadav (82 off 40). He started his innings with a four after a slip up by Holder at fine leg.
SKY then took a fancy to Siddharth Kaul. The medium pacer, who was tonked early in the innings for 4 fours in the 2nd over of the innings, came back for some more special treatment — this time at SKY’s bat.
Kaul was wayward and was rightfully punished. SKY first hit him for 11 runs off one over. In the next Kaul got hit for four 4s — all well-placed boundaries, a mix of elegance and power.
Surya’s innings had some innovative shots — scoops, attempted reverse shots even against the likes of quickie Malik.
Surya took a knock on the helmet in the 19th over and was eventually dismissed in the final over for 82 off just 40 balls.
His entertaining knock helped propel Mumbai’s score to over 200 after Kishan gave the defending champs a quick start.
Both batsmen batted fearlessly and played the balls on merit. They took minimal risks, yet their attacking batting was wonderful to watch.
SRH did themselves no favours by bowling and fielding poorly, flooring many catches.
SRH, who were without the services of the injured Bhuvneshwar Kumar, just did not have the goods with the ball and allowed MI to post a huge total.
Unfortunately for MI, 235 was not eventually enough to make the cut for the play-offs.
- IPL 2021
- IPL 2021: POINTS TABLE
- IPL 2021: TURNING POINTS
- IPL 2021: STAR PERFORMERS
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