IPL 2018, MI vs SRH: Hits and Misses

Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss for the first time in this season and continued the trend of bowling first against Sunrisers Hyderabad who were bolstered by the return of Shikhar Dhawan.

SRH did get off to a good start as they raced off to 20 in the first 9 deliveries but then started losing wickets at regular intervals. They lost wickets throughout their innings and ended with 118. They also failed to bat out their 20 overs as none of their batsmen could go past the 30-run mark. The MI bowling and fielding was spot on as they restricted SRH to an under-par total.

In reply, MI lost three quick wickets as SRH came back well. At 21 for 3, MI might have felt the pressure, but Suryakumar Yadav and Krunal Pandya joined hands to put the chase back on track. Siddarth Kaul and Rashid Khan picked up wickets at regular intervals and shared 5 wickets between them to help SRH bowl MI out for 87. The visitors completed a memorable win as they defended the second-lowest total in the history of the IPL.

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#5 Hit: Mitchell McClenaghan

McClenaghan gave MI the perfect start

Mitchell McClenaghan has become a proper T20 specialist after he opted out of the central contract for New Zealand Cricket. But despite being one of the consistent performers for Mumbai Indians in the last few years, he wasn’t picked in the auction this year. However, the 31-year-old was picked by MI as an injury ruled Jason Behrendroff out of the IPL.

He has been amongst the wickets since the start of the season. Playing his fourth game of 2018, McClenaghan bowled the second over of the game, which might have been the turning point.

The Kiwi pacer started off quite poorly as he conceded 5 wides and a boundary in his first three deliveries. But he came back strongly as he took a key wicket of Shikhar Dhawan as he got the latter to drag one back onto his stumps. A couple of balls later, Wriddhiman Saha nicked one to the keeper to give the Kiwi pacer his second wicket of the over. His second over went for 10 runs but he bowled a tight third over to cap off a brilliant powerplay for MI.

McClenaghan finished with figures of 2 for 22 in 3 overs.

#4 Miss: Shikhar Dhawan

Shikhar Dhawan couldn't give SRH the start they were looking for

After David Warner was ruled out of the IPL (banned by Cricket Australia), the pressure and the responsibility on Shikhar Dhawan certainly doubled. He started the tournament on a good note as well. He scored a very good 78 in the first game and followed it up with a fluent 45. He did fail against KKR in the third game before he was struck on the elbow and was out injured for SRH's previous match.

It was evident in the last game that SRH missed Dhawan and they received a boost as the 32-year-old left-hander was declared fit for this game. He got off the mark on the second delivery of the game with an inside-edge. In the next over, he managed to get a boundary to third man before an inside-edge thudded into his knee. The opener from Delhi looked in pain but recovered soon.

However, his innings was cut short as he inside-edged another ball but this time he dragged it onto his stumps. Dhawan managed just 5 and looked iffy in his 6-ball stay at the crease.

#3 Hit: Siddarth Kaul

Siddarth Kaul didn't start well but came back really well and took 3 wickets at the death

After a really good start (where he picked up 4 wickets in the first two games), Siddarth Kaul was a tad expensive in the last three games as he conceded more than 33 runs in each of them. But in the absence of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, he had an added responsibility on his shoulder.

Defending just 118, Kaul was taken for a few runs in his first couple of overs as he conceded 16 runs. When he came back to bowl in the 16th over, MI were already 77 for 6 but he bowled an excellent two-over spell and shut the door for the hosts. He picked up 2 wickets in his third over before closing out the game with the wicket of Hardik Pandya in the 18th over.

Kaul was superb at the back end of the innings and finished with figures of 3 for 23.

#2 Miss: Ishan Kishan

Ishan Kishan has been inconsistent this season and in this game, he bagged a three-ball duck

Ishan Kishan has blown a little hot and cold this season. He’s been quite inconsistent as he has registered single-digit scores every alternate game. He has scored 151 in this tournament. A couple of games ago, the Jharkhand wicket-keeper was hit just under the eye by a throw from the deep. However, he came back strong in the next game and scored a very good 58.

After a good outing behind the stumps where he took 3 catches, Kishan came in to bat at 12 for 1 in the third over of the chase. He played a couple of dot balls before he had a sudden rush of blood as he went for a lofted hit and ended up slicing it to long-off. The 19-year-old wicket-keeper bagged his second duck of the season.

#1 Hit: Rashid Khan

After a couple of disappointing performances, Rashid Khan silenced his critics in style

Rashid Khan was severely criticized for his performances in the last two games. First, he ran into a rampaging Chris Gayle and then the CSK batsmen took the attack to him. In both games, he had an economy of more than 12.

With just 118 runs on the board, Rashid was always going to play a key role in SRH’s defence. The Afghanistan leggie came on to bowl in the 10th over and started with a good, tight over, conceding just 2 runs. He then picked up with a big wicket of Krunal Pandya in his next over and broke a dodgy 40-run stand. In his third over, he prized out Kieron Pollard and brought SRH back in the game.

After bowling three excellent overs, Kane Williamson then saved him for the later stages and the move paid off as Rashid bowled a maiden over to Hardik Pandya. It was the 17th over of the innings and a crucial one too. His figures of 2 for 11 were outstanding and it was one of the main reasons why SRH were able to defend the target.

Rashid also won his second Man of the Match of the season as he had a stunning economy of 2.75 to go with his two crucial wickets.