A thrilling day of cricket witnessed the Sunrisers Hyderabad and Mumbai Indians coming out on top against opponents Gujarat Lions and Kolkata Knight Riders respectively. The day ended with the Sunrisers and Knight Riders joining the Mumbai Indians in the playoffs.
In the first game of the day, the Suresh Raina led Gujarat batted first. They were off to a flying start after openers Ishan Kishan (61) and Dwayne Smith (54) plundered 111 runs in just 10.5 overs. But after they were sent back to the pavilion in quick succession, the rest of the batting simply collapsed with only Ravindra Jadeja (20) reaching double figures.
Young pacer Mohammad Siraj (4/32), Rashid Khan (3/34) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (2/25) brought back Hyderabad into the game as they bundled out the home team for just 154 runs in 19.2 overs.
In reply, Hyderabad, riding on the back of match-winning knocks by David Warner (69*) and Vijay Shankar (63*) won the game comfortably with 11 balls to spare. Their unbeaten 133 run partnership ensured that they get a playoff berth.
Kolkata lose but still qualify
In the other game of the day, the Mumbai Indians produced a thrilling display of bowling to clinch their second win over the Kolkata Knight Riders this season.
Put into bat after some initial showers delayed the toss, Mumbai Indians didn’t get off to a good start as in-form opener Lendl Simmons was dismissed by Trent Boult for a duck. But Saurabh Tiwary, playing his first match this season, played a solid knock of 52 before being run out by Umesh Yadav. Ambati Rayudu, coming in for Parthiv Patel too played a good hand of 63 and skipper Rohit Sharma too chipped in with 21. Mumbai ended up with 173 runs on the board.
But the KKR chase was one big rollercoaster ride where the momentum shifted almost every over as the game changed faces rapidly. Losing the hard-hitting Sunil Narine for a duck in the first over was a big blow to the Knights but the other opener- Chris Lynn had other plans as he smacked 24 runs in just 14 balls. However, three wickets in three consecutive overs meant that the match would have an exciting finish to it.
Colin De Grandhomme (29) joined Manish Pandey(33) at the crease when the scoreboard read 87/5 and the duo steadied the run-chase but as soon they were dismissed, it looked evident that Mumbai wouldn’t lose the tie. A good last over from Hardik Pandya (2/22) restricted the Kolkata Knight Riders to 164/8, nine runs short of the Mumbai score.
Mumbai Indians sealed their position at the top of the table with this win while the Kolkata Knight Riders, despite a loss have qualified for the playoffs.
Brief scores
Gujarat Lions 154 all out in 19.2 overs ( Ishan Kishan 61, Dwayne Smith 54 ; Mohammad Siraj 4/32) lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad 158/2 in 18.1 overs ( David Warner 69*, Vijay Shankar 63* ; Praveen Kumar 2/22) by 8 wickets.
Mumbai Indians 173/5 ( Ambati Rayudu 63, Saurabh Tiwary 52 ; Trent Boult 2/30) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 164/8 ( Manish Pandey 33, Colin De Grandhomme 1/29 ; Hardik Pandya 2/22) by 9 runs.
(Kolkata Bureau)