Green, Madhwal prove their worth as MI out-muscle SRH

Cameron Green blasted his way to an unbeaten 100 after Akash Madhwal’s game-changing haul of 4/37 as Mumbai Indians (MI) hammered Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by eight wickets in Mumbai on Sunday to stay afloat in the race to the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) playoffs.

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While Hyderabad were already eliminated from the playoffs race and were hoping to spoil Mumbai’s party in their final outing of the season, the five-time champions desperately needed to win the final game of the season at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium if they were to keep their campaign alive.

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And win they did in style, making short work of another 200-plus target and cruising to victory with two overs to spare that took them past Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) to the fourth spot on the points table and ensured Rajasthan Royals were eliminated from the playoffs race.

Madhwal shines yet again

Sunrisers finally appeared to have locked in on their ideal opening combination, right at the very end of the season when they had already been eliminated from the playoffs race, as Mayank Agarwal and Vivrant Sharma stitched a solid 140-run partnership.

Agarwal, who had been short of confidence all season long, managed to cross fifty for the first time in IPL 2023 while Vivrant, playing only his third game but getting a chance to bat for the first time, added 69 off 47 deliveries, breaking a 15-year record in the process.

The Sunrisers appeared headed towards a score of 220 or more the way they were motoring along in the middle overs. Madhwal, who had gone for 11 in his first over, managed to bring the mammoth opening stand to an end in his second, bouncing Vivrant out to get him caught at deep midwicket.

Madhwal would then collect two wickets in as many overs, dismissing Agarwal in his third, once again using the short ball to good effect as the senior batter was caught-behind. The procession continued in the following over as Chris Jordan managed to dismiss Glenn Phillips with a rank full toss down leg that the batter whipped straight down fine leg’s throat.

The game-changer, however, was Madhwal hitting the stumps twice in as many deliveries off his last two balls of the evening. Heinrich Klaasen, who struck a brilliant hundred against RCB in Hyderabad earlier this week, departed for 18 while Harry Brook ended his debut IPL season with a golden duck.

Even though skipper Aiden Markram ended the innings with a mighty six over cow corner that helped them breach the 200-mark, he would’ve known his team was 15-20 runs, especially against a power-packed MI batting lineup on a batting paradise.

Green to the rescue

Though the final scoreline suggested Mumbai Indians bossed their way through to the 201-run target, it wasn’t exactly a smooth sailing for MI early on their chase, especially with skipper Rohit struggling to time the ball. Ishan Kishan, who would normally play the role of aggressor in the opening partnership, perished while attempting to pull Bhuvneshwar Kumar for a maximum, with Brook pulling off a superb catch in the midwicket region, leaving Mumbai in a slightly tricky spot of 24/1 after 3.

Another wicket or two at this stage, and it would certainly have been Hyderabad’s game to lose. Green, who walked in at No 3 ahead of Suryakumar Yadav, however gave hope of a turnaround as he struck a boundary off his very first delivery of the evening.

It was the fireworks off Green’s bat in the final over of the powerplay, in which he struck pacer Kartik Tyagi for a six off a no ball along with two fours in an 18-run over that signalled a shift in momentum towards Mumbai. And from thereon, MI wouldn’t look back as they would make mincemeat of the Sunrisers attack with Green playing a central role in the chase.

Green taking the risks and sending the ball sailing to all parts of the Wankhede came as a blessing for Rohit, who took his time to settle in before before going for the big hits. The Mumbai skipper had been going at run-a-ball until the end of the seventh over, but appeared to have broken the shackles with a confident pull off Umran Malik in the eighth over. He would later collect a hat-trick of fours off the same bowler in the 10th over, and would eventually bring up only his second half-century of the season.

Rohit and Green would put Mumbai in the driver’s seat with a whirlwind 128-run partnership for the second wicket, and Surya seamlessly filled in after Rohit perished on 56, stitching an unbroken stand worth 53 that ultimately got Mumbai home in a canter and once again stamped Mumbai’s batting might on the opposition.

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