IPL 2017, SRH vs MI: 5 things that went wrong for Mumbai Indians
Mumbai Indians were sitting pretty at the top of the table with nine wins and just two losses, which meant their only concern was finishing in the top two.
Sunrisers Hyderabad, on the other hand, had just six wins out of 12 matches and a loss could have meant some serious competition from Kings XI Punjab. So, the defending champions were under pressure, although playing on their home turf was bound to give them a boost.
They certainly played like defending champions, showing the best team in this year’s IPL their bowling might. In the end, SRH’s bowling really won them the game and despite David Warner’s failure, Shikhar Dhawan, with an unbeaten 62, ensured SRH crossed the finishing line, chasing down 139 with ease and winning the match by seven wickets with 10 balls to spare.
Extra Cover: 5 memorable moments from the SRH vs MI match that don’t fade away
MI surprisingly chose to bat after winning the toss, probably experimenting before the playoffs. But here are 5 things that didn’t go down well for them.
#1 Bad start
MI had a horror start as Lendl Simmons, the half-centurion from the other night, fell in the second over to Mohammad Nabi, his stumps being castled. Nitish Rana, one of MI’s more successful batsmen this season, followed suit a couple of overs later.
Parthiv Patel’s 17-ball cameo ended soon as well and MI were left struggling at 36 for 3 in 6.1 overs, with one of their worst power play displays this season. Hardik Pandya and Rohit Sharma added 60 for the fourth wicket but Pandya couldn’t get off the blocks at all largely because of the poor start MI had.
Much credit has to be given to SRH’s young Siddharth Kaul, who moved the ball at pace, with accuracy, and picked up two early wickets.