Synopsis: It was a six-fest as both teams combined to score the highest number of sixes (38) and most number of runs (523) in a single game but it was Sunrisers Hyderabad who sealed the game with smart death bowling. Mumbai’s stubbornness of not using more of Jasprit Bumrah in the first 10 of the bowling innings also played a part.
The cracking sound the bat made when Travis Head clobbered Maphaka for six and followed up with a pulled six would have given a nostalgic feeling to the crowd who have seen David Warner rule the arena like a boss in the past.
If Head reached his half-century in 18 balls and broke the record to become the fastest to reach the mark for SRH, Abhishek Sharma would soon break the record in 16 balls. Head played a few cheeky shots through the third-man region when bouncers were tried at him while it was conventional clean hitting from Abishek. The duo added 68 runs in no time and the Mumbai bowlers were shell-shocked.
A 𝙃𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙩 for @SunRisers 🧡
Travis Head is back in #TATAIPL & how! 🔥
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Once the left-handers did their job it was Klassen doing Klassen things, which is to come in and smack sixes into all parts of the ground for SRH. Two games into the tournament the South African has already scored 15 sixes.
Be it spin, be it pace the moment the bowler missed their mark it was deposited in the stands. His ability to hang on the back foot and clobber the ball through the mid-wicket region reduces the margins alarmingly for the spinners. If seamers fail to hit the perfect yorker length in trying to bowl full, the ball vanishes over their heads into the stands.
How much Bumrah is too much in the early part?
The only over which did not go for a boundary in the first 10 in SRH’s batting innings was when Jasprit Bumrah bowled the fourth while Head and Abhishek were smacking the Mumbai attack. The solitary over bowled in the Powerplay just went for four runs and the remainder of the five overs cost the visitors 76 runs, which told a story.
The new ball was taken by inexperienced Kwen Maphaka and the skipper himself. By the time Bumrah was brought into the attack in the fourth over Head was already on his en route to rampage and it was about damage control for the premium pacer. And surprisingly he was not seen again till the 13th when the score read 180/3. Neither Markram nor Klassen needed to go out of their way against Bumrah to increase the scoring rate.
The moment when @SunRisers created HISTORY!
Final over flourish ft. Heinrich Klaasen 🔥
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While it is a common tactic used by Mumbai Indians over the years to preserve the majority of Bumrah’s quota towards the end, the situation on Wednesday demanded flexibility from the skipper.
Slow death for MI
If the first innings started on overdrive, so did the second innings. Chasing 278 Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan did come all guns blazing, however, those were only sparkling cameos. The innings of substance was from Tilak. Though Tim David and Hardik played out of their skins to make the unthinkable possible SRH bowlers resorted to a slower ball-into-the-pitch strategy which essentially saved the day.
When things were looking like getting out of grips skipper Pat Cummins came up with a crucial 15th over after the strategic time, outfoxing Tilak with a slower bumper and giving just three runs. It essentially sucked the momentum out of MI’s innings and the slower-ball tactic and some unique field sets from Cummins would become the mantra for the rest of the evening.
As the game went on the surface continued to get slower and Jaydev Unadakat who had come in place of Natrajan turned out to be a blessing in disguise. The left-armer whose go-to deliveries are subtle slower ball variations varied his pace but also bowled away from the batter’s arcs making them reach out for the deliveries which David and Pandya struggled to deal with. Unadkat who has been a passenger for the last few seasons delivered a Man Of the Match worthy performance in its own right. Though his first over went for 17 runs he picked up two wickets for 30 runs in the remaining three overs to seal the game for Hyderabad.
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