IPL 2021, SRH vs MI: Determined Hyderabad denies Mumbai playoffs berth

It was a devised performance from former champion SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH), as it cost Mumbai Indians (MI) its playoffs berth in Match 55 of the 2021 Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Friday. Despite the 42-run win, MI could not qualify for the playoffs, as it had to win the game by an extensive margin of 171 runs, which was practically impossible.

Winning the toss, MI skipper Rohit Sharma obviously opted to bat, bringing in Krunal Pandya and Piyush Chawla. Meanwhile, Manish Pandey captained SRH, as Kane Williamson was nursing a niggle.

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MI openers Rohit (18) and Ishan Kishan (84) were off to an explosive start, putting up an 80-run stand within the Powerplay before the former fell to spinner Rashid Khan in the sixth over, followed by all-rounder Hardik Pandya (10) to pacer Jason Holder in the ninth. As Kishan scored his ninth IPL half-century off just 16 deliveries, he fell to pacer Umran Malik in the tenth, at 124.

It was 27 runs later when Kieron Pollard (13) and James Neesham (0) departed to spinner Abhishek Sharma in the 13th. Although the incoming batters in the tail-end could not manage double figures, Suryakumar Yadav (82) played a blazing knock before falling to Holder in the final, as MI finished on a monstrous total of 235/9.

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SRH put six bowlers into the attack. While Holder claimed four wickets, Abhishek was highly economical.

As SRH came out for the chase, it was off to a flier, with opener Jason Roy (34) and Abhishek Sharma (33) contributing to a 64-run stand before the former departed to pacer Trent Boult in the sixth over, followed by the latter to pacer James Neesham in the following over, 15 runs later.

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It lost a couple of more wickets in quick successions, as at 97, Mohammad Nabi (3) fell to spinner Piyush Chawla in the ninth, followed by Abdul Samad (2), three runs later, to Neesham again, in the following over. However, it was then succeeded by a 56-run stand between Pandey (69*) and Priyam Garg (29) before Garg made way in the 16th to Bumrah, at 156.

The incoming batters thereon could manage just single figures, as SRH lost eight wickets. Although Pandey struck his 21st IPL half-century in the process, it was not enough to see it through, thus losing by 42 runs.

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MI used six bowlers, with Bumrah, Nathan Coulter-Nile and Neesham claiming a couple each, while Boult was the most economical of all.
Brief scores: MI 235/9 (Kishan- 84, Yadav- 82; Holder- 4/52) defeated SRH 193/8 (Roy- 34, Abhishek 33, Pandey 69*; Neesham- 2/28) by 42 runs.