The Wankhede was treated to a SKY masterclass as Mumbai Indians handed Sunrisers Hyderabad a seven wicket loss in IPL 2024's Game 55.
With the Sunrisers putting up a below par total, Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma put up a record partnership to rescue MI from a precarious position and take them to their fourth win this season.
The batters who made merry at the Wankhede on Monday, May 6, 2024:
Travis Head
Though far from his best knock this season, Head top-scored for the Sunrisers once again. He narrowly missed out on a half-century, but his 30-ball 48 was the highest score for SRH, on a day when the rampaging Sunrisers batters struggled to get going.
After being invited to bat, Head and Abhishek Sharma put up 56 off 37 for the opening wicket, with Head scoring the bulk of the runs.
He got off the mark with a lucky boundary as he got the inside edge off a slow delivery from Nuwan Thushara, but it went past the stumps for a boundary. Head got his second boundary too off an inside edge in the next over. He found his first maximum in the fifth over has he pulled Anshul Kamboj over square leg.
Luck was on his side as debutant Kamboj knocked back the off stump and celebrated dismissing Head. As the batter was about to walk off, the dreaded no ball siren went off, handing Head a lifeline. He capitalised with two boundaries on the trot.
Looking to break free after the halfway stage, his luck ran out, with Piyush Chawla denying him another half-century this season.
Head's innings lay the foundation with Pat Cummins adding the crucial runs in the death. But with the rest of the line-up misfiring, SRH posted a below par total. Something they haven't done this season, while batting first.
Scoring at a rate of 160, Head's knock included seven boundaries and one maximum.
Pat Cummins
With his side struggling at 124/7 in 15.5 overs, Captain Cummins walked in with a job to do.
After getting off the mark with a single, Cummins found the boundary ropes early with a maximum off Piyush Chawla, slogging it over long on and into the stands. Cummins then found the boundary ropes against Jasprit Bumrah, before hammering Thushara for consecutive boundaries in the final over.
After dispatching Thushara over long off for a maximum, Cummins jammed the next one past square leg for a boundary. Cummins' late rescue took Sunrisers past the 150 mark.
Scoring at a rate of 205.88, Cummins' 17-ball 35 included two boundaries and two sixes.
Suryakumar Yadav
Needing 174 to win, Mumbai got off to a rocky start, losing their top three batters in quick succession. With Ishan Kishan (9), Rohit Sharma (4) and Naman Dhir (0) departing quickly, SKY walked in with a tall ask.
And delivered under pressure as he hammered an unbeaten century to take Mumbai to a comfortable victory. Walking in with MI struggling at 31/2 in 3.2 overs, SKY got off to a cautious start. He took six deliveries to get off the mark, then got his innings underway with a boundary. SKY found his first maximum off Cummins in the final over of the Powerplay.
Scoring just 11 off 9, SKY switched gears post the Powerplay as he punished pacer Marco Jansen for his poor show with the ball with back-to-back boundaries. He smashed Jansen for 4-4-6-1-6 as MI's three quick wickets were quickly forgotten.
Though Cummins and Thangarasu Natarajan managed to keep the rampaging SKY in check in the middle overs, the World's No. 1 T20 batter kept MI in the game with lovely strokeplay.
SKY looked to be struggling to take a run, which raised concerns over his fitness. Speaking at the post-match presentation, he said it was just tiredness and nothing to worry about.
SKY brought up his half-century off 30 deliveries. Post his half-century, he kept the Mumbai crowd on its toes, finding the boundary in every over.
In the 17th over, with Cummins attempting to find the breakthrough, SKY pressed his foot on the peddle. Hammering the Sunrisers skipper for 4-4-6, he took his score to 96. With Natarajan bowling the 18th, Tilak Varma put SKY on strike.
With SKY needing just four to bring up his 100 and MI needing six to win, he finished it in style as he hammered a full toss from Natarajan for a flat six to bring up his unbeaten ton off 51 deliveries.
This was his second IPL ton and the first this season. It was also his 6th T20 hundred. Scoring at a sizzling rate of 200, SKY's innings was peppered with 12 boundaries and six sixes.
Tilak Varma
The youngster has rescued MI from precarious positions this IPL season and on Monday at the Wankhede, he once again came to his team's rescue, but on this occasion, he was content playing second fiddle.
Walking into bat with Mumbai reeling at 31/3 in 4.1 overs, Varma came in ahead of Captain Hardik Pandya. Varma got off the mark with a boundary off Cummins as he disdainfully smashed it through the covers to get MI's chase back on track.
Varma slapped another one away for four in the final over of the Powerplay. With SKY taking the assault to the bowlers, Varma moulded his innings to the need of the hour as he steadied the chase alongside SKY.
While SKY scored the bulk of the runs in their 79-ball 143 run stand, Tilak's steady knock at the other end let SKY play his shots.
Varma, who scored an unbeaten 37 off 32, struck six boundaries. SKY and Varma's unbeaten stand saw the hosts chase down the target with 16 balls to spare. Though in all likelihood MI won't make the play-offs, their win opened up the tournament.
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