Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma were both recalled to the Indian national side on Monday, and they celebrated the occasion with half-centuries. But at the end of the clash, it was Dhawan who had more to smile about, compared to his opening partner and Mumbai Indians captain. Dhawan’s knock of 62 not out outshone Rohit’s arduous effort of 67 — almost half of Mumbai Indians’ (MI) total — against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2017 match at Hyderabad. Dhawan added 91 runs with Moises Henriques (44) for the second wicket, and powered Sunrisers Hyderabad to a vital win by 7 wickets in a paltry chase, in match No. 48 of the ongoing edition of the tournament.
At the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Uppal, Sunrisers Hyderabad produced a dominating all-round show to belittle the topper of the IPL 10 points table, Mumbai Indians. Asked to bowl first, Sunrisers Hyderabad remained undeterred even though Rohit stroked his way to a 45-ball 67 — his highest score this tournament — and restricted Mumbai Indians to a paltry 138 for 7. In their reply, despite losing David Warner cheaply early on, Sunrisers Hyderabad produced a dominating show with the bat as well and registered a victory which ensured the end of the race for a berth in final four, for the Delhi Daredevils (DD).
Dhawan scored 62 not out off 46 balls, studded with 4 fours and 2 sixes. His innings not only ensured a 7-wicket win for the defending champions, but also consolidated their claim for a position in the IPL 10 playoffs.
The target of 139 was achieved without any qualm, with Dhawan and Henriques batting Mumbai Indians out of the equation. Mumbai looked off-colour in all departments, barring Rohit, who gave his side the platform to fight for. However, at the end, Rohit’s innings was just not enough.
Mitchell McClenaghan provided Mumbai Indians an early breakthrough when he bowled a fuller ball on the pads to trap Warner in front of the wickets for a mere 6. However, the fall of their in-form captain had no impact on the Sunrisers, who needed less than 7 an over to achieve their target.
Dhawan and Henriques rotated the strike comfortably, and at no position they looked in a hurry to finish off the proceedings. Boundaries came at will for the Sunrisers batsmen, and Mumbai looked clueless as to how to break the stand. McClenaghan bowled a tight opening spell of 2-0-9-1, but as soon as he was taken off, the SRH batsmen started attacking.
Karn Sharma was hit for a six in the seventh over, and Hardik was smacked for 2 boundaries in the next. Karn was punished again, in the ninth over, with Dhawan hitting a four and a six. Henriques took a liking for Lasith Malinga, who was hit for two boundaries in the 11th over.
However, a leading edge led to Henriques’ dismissal, and the batsman missed out on a deserving fifty. Yuvraj Singh walked out to bat with pain in his injured hand and perished for an 11-ball 9.
Dhawan played a characteristic innings in a contest where there was no real pressure on the batsmen. He and Rohit have identical qualities of starting off slowly but playing big innings, and Dhawan was able to accomplish that on Monday night. Towards the end, Vijay Shankar scored 15 not out off 12 balls.
Earlier in the contest, Rohit fought hard but found no support in his endeavour to help Mumbai Indians post a strong total. Ge scored 67 in a contest where the second highest score was 23 from Parthiv Patel. Siddharth Kaul claimed 3 for 24, but it was a brilliant bowling display from Rashid Khan and especially Mohammad Nabi, who returned with the figures of 4-0-13-1.
Brief scores:
Mumbai Indians 138 for 7 in 20 overs (Parthiv Patel 23, Rohit Sharma 67; Mohammad Nabi 1 for 13, Siddharth Kaul 3 for 24, Rashid Khan 1 for 22) lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad 140 for 3 in 18.2 overs (Shikhar Dhawan 62*, Moises Henriques 44; Jasprit Bumrah 1 for 24) by 7 wickets.
Man of the Match: Shikhar Dhawan.
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