Mumbai Indians beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by seven wickets
Hyderabad: Mumbai Indians recorded a comprehensive seven wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in an IPL match on Monday.
Opener Simmons (68) and Rayudu (68) frustrated Hyderabad bowlers for 14.3 overs during which they shared 130 runs for the second wicket as Mumbai chased down the target of 158 with eight balls to spare at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium at Uppal.
They batted slow for a while before Simmons took 16 runs off Irfan Pathan in the fifth over with two sixes and a four. Pathan was the unfortunate bowler as he was also picked by Rayudu for special treatment later on and the pacer conceded 29 runs from his two overs.
From 32 for one at the end of the fifth over, Mumbai reached 32 for one at the halfway stage and then raced away to 125 for one at the end of the 15th over and the asking rate had been brought down below seven an over by then.
Rohit hit the winning runs — a four — as Mumbai reached 160 for three in 18.2 overs to notch up a much-needed win to stay afloat in the tournament.
Finch played the role of sheet-anchor as he stayed till the penultimate over of Hyderabad innings, sharing 63 runs for the third wicket with Warner from nine overs. He hit seven boundaries and two sixes in his 62-ball knock.
The in-form Warner was largely instrumental in taking the score past 150 as he smashed two sixes off Lasith Malinga in the penultimate over and two boundaries off the final two balls of the innings bowled by Kieron Pollar as Hyderabad scored 15 and 18 runs of the last two overs.
Warner’s 31-ball unbeaten knock was studded with six boundaries and two sixes. Opener and captain Shikhar continued his struggle and he could contribute just 11 from as many balls in his side’s first match at home this season. He was out in the last ball of the fifth over with Malinga uprooting his middle stump as he went for a drive outside the line.
One-down Lokesh Rahul was run out in the 10th over while going for a non-existent single. He made frantic return to the crease after running half-way down the pitch, but not before Chidhambaram Gautam broke the stumps.
