IPL 2018: Sachin Tendulkar's birthday bash turns bitter as SRH stun Mumbai Indians
Mumbai: Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) spoiled Sachin Tendulkar’s birthday bash as they stunned Mumbai Indians (MI) by 31 runs in a thrilling contest here at the Wankhede Stadium on Tuesday.
The venue was near jam-packed, with close to 33,000 supporters flocking to pay tribute to the Master Blaster on his birthday. But it was Kane Williamson’s men that walked out as winners on the night deservingly after an emphatic bowling performance in the second half.
A morale-boosting victory for Kane Williamson and his troops saw the Sunrisers get back to winning ways, while defending champions MI slumped down the 2018 Indian Premier League (IPL) table after their fifth defeat of the season.
The visitors were handicapped heading into the contest having lost both their frontline pacers Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Billy Stanlake to injury, the latter being ruled out for the season. Shikhar Dhawan also came back in the fray after overcoming an elbow injury. Two changes were made as Mohammad Nabi and Basil Thampi were handed their first starts this season.
After MI won the toss and elected to field, Mitchell McClenaghan sent the Paltan supporters into frenzy early on in his opening over, getting rid of Shikhar Dhawan and Wriddhiman Saha.
Having endured a dismal campaign so far, Manish Pandey showed some promise at the crease with some fiery strokes early. But Hardik Pandya ensured his stay was short lived as Pandey fell cheaply.
Mayank Markande and Jasprit Bumrah also joined the party as the hosts continued to pile misery on the opposition, striking with wickets at regular intervals.
Despite the dangerous presence of Yusuf Pathan in the middle, the bowlers managers to keep the hard-hitting veteran quiet as SRH were bundled out for a paltry total of 118.
However, at the start of the second innings, nerves got the better of the defending champions. Sandeep Sharma was the first to strike, removing Evin Lewis.
Spinners Nabi and Shakib Al Hasan followed it up with wickets of Ishan Kishan and Rohit Sharma respectively to keep MI reeling at 22-6 following the end of power play.
Krunal Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav revived the innings before Rashid Khan spun his magic with the ball. An overturned LBW review saw Krunal make way to the pavilion and moments later Kieron Pollard followed footsteps, thanks to Rashid again.
Wickets kept tumbling for the hosts but hopes were still pinned on Hardik Pandya to deliver the goods for a desperate victory. The game was open at both ends when Rashid came into the attack during the 17th over, but a stunning maiden over, where Hardik was clueless against the Afghan spinner, proved to be the turning point.
Basil Thampi and Siddharth Kaul, sharing five wickets between themselves, wrecked havoc in the death overs as the men in orange secured an incredible turnaround.
