Sunrisers Hyderabad 177/3 (Dhawan 82 not out; Harbhajan 2-29)
Mumbai Indians 92 in 16.3 overs (Harbhajan 21 not out; Ashish Nehra 3-15, Mustafizur Rahan 3-16)
A big win over Mumbai Indians meant Sunrisers Hyderabad leapt from fourth place to top even as the battle for supremacy in the top-half grows intense in the business end of the ninth season of the Indian Premier League.
Riding on Shikhar Dhawan’s unbeaten 82 and David Warner’s 48, Sunrisers Hyderabad outclassed the defending champions by 85 runs on Sunday. Both teams were playing at the neutral venue of Vishakhapatnam after Mumbai’s home matches had to be shifted.
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Batting first, Sunrisers posted 177 for three with Yuvraj Singh chipping in with 39 from 23 balls before he clipped his own bails.
Dhawan had grown in confidence having shaken off poor form for a scrappy 47 runs in the previous game but, importantly, spent more time in the middle. His batting effort yesterday showed more fluency as he hit 10 boundaries and a six in his 57 ball-knock.
Mumbai have always chased well when captain Rohit Sharma has done well this season but he was bowled by Ashish Nehra who struck with a decisive opening spell that included three wickets.
Rohit’s wicket turned into a procession that never stopped as Mumbai folded for 92 runs. Nehra’s fellow left-handed bowling colleague, Mustafizur Rahman came on as fourth change and mopped up the tail with three wickets.
Warner told StarSports later that it was important to "keep going" with the momentum.
“We have been executing our skills at the top of the order,” the captain said. “We got swing up front, we got the momentum.”
Rohit put down the collapse to a bad day in office. “Games like this happen. It is important for us to leave this game here and move forward,” the captain said.
Earlier, Sunrisers got off to a flying start, courtesy in-form openers Warner 48 and Dhawan. The duo added 51 runs without losing any wickets after the completion of the powerplay.
Warner dismissed in the 10th over to have Hyderabad at 85/1. The left-hander struck seven boundaries and one six in his 33-ball innings.
Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh added Kane Williamson to the wicket of Warner but Dhawan and Yuvraj continued to milk the bowlers. The duo put on a 85-run partnership for the third wicket to help the team.
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