Batting second is becoming an increasingly difficult task so far in IPL 2021 and it proved to be so on Saturday as well after Mumbai Indians defended their total of 150-5 against Sunrisers Hyderabad, winning by 13 runs.
On a bowler friendly pitch in Chennai, Mumbai posted a decent total thanks to the efforts of opener Quinton de Kock (40 from 39 balls) and middle order batsman Kieron Pollard (35 off 22).
Realising how difficult the last half of the innings was going to get, Hyderabad went hard in the powerplay, reaching 67 without loss in the eighth over. But once top-scorer Jonny Bairstow got out – hit-wicket – the wheels started to come off.
Leg-spinner Rahul Chahar (3-19) turned the match on its head by ripping the heart out of the middle order before veteran seamers Jasprit Bumrah (1-14) and Trent Boult (3-28) came on in the death overs to put the game beyond Hyderabad.
Mumbai bowled their opponents out for 137 in the final over.
Captain Rohit Sharma lauded his bowlers for bringing them back into the match.
"Great effort from the bowling unit, we knew it was not going to be easy. When you have a pitch like that and the bowlers execute, it makes it easy for a captain," Rohit said.
"I thought we had a good score for this pitch. You saw both the teams capitalising on the powerplay. Having said that, we can do better in the middle overs."
Hyderabad skipper David Warner, who was run out for 36, said the total was gettable.
"These scores are very chaseable, it's just poor batting. If you get a partnership and have one guy at the end, you can chase down 150 easily. You just need smart cricket in the middle, we aren't doing that."
