IPL 2020: Twitter explodes as SRH thrash MI by 10 wickets to storm into the playoffs

David Warner and Wriddhiman Saha’s unbeaten 151-run stand helped the Sunrisers Hyderabad make the IPL 2020 playoffs as they beat the Mumbai Indians by 10 wickets in Match 56 at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.

MI will play the Delhi Capitals in Qualifier 1 on November 5 in Dubai, while SRH will go up against the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL 2020 Eliminator the following night in Abu Dhabi.

After Warner won the toss and opted to field first, Sandeep Sharma (3 for 34) got SRH off to an ideal start. He accounted for MI captain Rohit Sharma (4 off 7) – who came into the side after a 4-match injury layoff – in the 3rd over with just 12 runs on the board.

Quinton de Kock (25 off 13) started to take the attack to the SRH bowlers before chopping one onto his stumps off Sandeep Sharma to leave MI precariously placed at 39 for 2 in the 5th over. Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan then got together and tried to resurrect the innings with a 42-run third-wicket stand.

But once Yadav fell to Shahbaz Nadeem (2 for 19) for a 29-ball 36, MI suffered a mini-collapse as Krunal Pandya followed suit 3 balls later. Rashid Khan then cleaned up Saurabh Tiwary (1 off 3) to leave the defending champions tottering on 82 for 5 in the 12th over.

Kieron Pollard, however, held fort at one end and shifted into top gear after struggling to time the ball initially. The West Indian all-rounder smashed 3 consecutive sixes off T Natarajan to score 41 off 25 balls, and helped MI recover from 116 for 7 to reach 149 for 8 at the end of 20 overs.

In reply, David Warner and Wriddhiman Saha started on a positive note and made their intentions clear from the outset. The duo scored 56 runs without losing any wicket at the end of the mandatory field restrictions to put SRH in the driver’s seat.

The Hyderabad-based franchise reached 97 without loss at the halfway mark to virtually shut the door on the Kolkata Knight Riders. Things went bad to worse for KKR, and the other way round for SRH. Warner (85 not out 58) and Saha (58 not out off 45) propelled themselves into the IPL 2020 playoffs and sent KKR out of the tournament.

---

Twitter reacts to IPL 2020, SRH vs MI