Green’s ton, Madhwal’s four-fer assists Mumbai Indians to steamroll Sunrisers Hyderabad to stay alive
Cameron Green’s maiden IPL century amalgamated with Akash Madhwal’s IPL best figures helped Mumbai Indians eclipse Sunrisers Hyderabad in a must-win encounter at the Wankhade Stadium in the 69th game of IPL 2023.
Rohit Sharma was fortunate enough to win the toss and elected to bowl first. They made one change as Hrithik Shokeen was replaced by Kumar Kartikeya in this all-important clash. On the other hand, the Sunrisers made four changes to provide the benched players with an opportunity.
It was Vivrant Sharma who opened the innings with Mayank Agarwal on this day and glittered the start for the Orange Army. This was the seventh opening pair for them and prior to this, the Aiden Markram-led unit didn’t even chalk a century-run opening stand.
The left and right-hand combination worked very well for SRH as they ended up with a mammoth 140-run partnership. Jason Behrendorff initiated the proceedings for Mumbai and was accompanied by Green from the other hand who bowled just a single over throughout the innings. Post a decent first two overs from MI, they were thwacked for at least two boundaries per over until the end of the powerplay.
On other occasions, the spinners used to apply the brakes for MI but this wasn’t the regular day for them. Even Piyush Chawla and Kumar Kartikeya failed to fragment the partnership as both Vivrant and Mayank went on to rack a half-century each. The Jammu-based batter was sent at the top order and banged 69 runs off 47 balls while Agarwal racked up a phenomenal total of 83 runs off 46 balls.
Akash Madhwal bagged a four-fer against SRH
It was Akash Madhwal who drew the first blood for the Mumbai Indians and backed up by removing Mayank Agarwal off a short ball. Chris Jordan managed to get rid of the Kiwi sensation Glenn Phillips and Madhwal returned back to dismiss Heinrich Klaasen and Harry Brook on back-to-back deliveries in the penultimate over of the innings. A short cameo off Aiden Markram helped SRH touch the 200-run mark.
Arriving for the chase, Ishan Kishan and Rohit Sharma were the usual openers for the Mumbai Indians. The duo was watchful in the first over from, Bhuvneshwar Kumar who didn’t find much amount of lateral movement with the new white cherry. After a brisk start, Kishan was removed, courtesy of a terrific catch from Brook who dived to his left and grasped the ball.
Unlike the previous game, Green marched in at no.3 and stepped up to the plate. He immediately began to accelerate and took the bowlers for a tour around the park. The fifty-run partnership between Sharma and Green was racked up in just 25 balls which eventually got converted to a huge 128 runs. The tag team laid the foundation for the chase and looked unstoppable during their stay.
The rookie bowlers in the competition- Nitish Reddy, Mayank Dagar, and Kartik Tyagi were blown apart by the duo. Adding to the woes, Vivrant Sharma bowled an over and conceded 19 runs off it. Although Rohit was dropped twice by Sanvir Singh, he was later dismissed by Dagar, courtesy of an excellent catch from Nitish Reddy, who flew to his right within the 30-yard circle.
Suryakumar Yadav followed in at no.4 and his form was on show right from the first ball that he faced. An inside-out over the extra cover region was what everyone got to witness. The flamboyant batter struck 26 runs off 16 balls and eeked out the run chase with two overs to spare with Green at the other end.
The Australian powerhouse went on to garner his maiden IPL century, and that too in just 47 deliveries. Although the game could’ve been dusted a little early, Surya advised the Aussie all-rounder to go after the milestone as the net run-rate scenario was dissolved then.
Despite the victory, Mumbai Indians are yet to qualify as they have to eagerly wait for the outcome of the second game of the day. If Royal Challengers Bangalore fails to win against Gujarat Titans, Mumbai will make it through to the playoffs. Meanwhile, it was the end of the road for Sunrisers Hyderabad as they finish with the wooden spoon with just 8 points in the bag.