IPL 2020: All-round Mumbai jumps to the top, beats Hyderabad

Quinton de Kock bounced back with a half-century as Mumbai Indians came up with a clinical show to beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by 34 runs.

Quinton de Kock plays a shot en route to his half-century against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Sunday.

Quinton de Kock and David Warner scored half-centuries at the top of the order for Mumbai Indians and Sunrisers Hyderabad, respectively. But it was the performance in the death overs - both with the bat and the ball - that proved decisive in the Indian Premier League (IPL) clash between former champions.

IPL 2020 | MI vs SRH | Match Highlights

In what turned out be yet another run-feast at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, de Kock’s 67 (39b, 4x4, 4x6) followed by the big-hitters going berserk at the back-end helped Mumbai Indians amass 208 for five against an attack missing the injured Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

Despite Warner’s maiden fifty of the season (60, 44b, 5x4, 2x6), an on-song pace troika of Mumbai Indians meant Sunrisers’ chase fell apart in the latter half.

 

The fact that Mumbai Indians conceded just 80 runs in the last 10 overs meant that the Hyderabad outfit could muster only 174 for seven, the first sub-200 total in the eight completed innings at Sharjah. At the halfway stage, at 94 for two, the Sunrisers was on course to make it yet another thrilling finish.

 

However, Trent Boult and James Pattinson - the two MI pacers who have been consistent with the new ball - then won the mini-battles against their national counterparts to seal the fate of the game.

Left-armer Boult first rolled his fingers nicely to coerce his New Zealand captain Kane Williamson into an edge behind the wickets in the 13th over. When Pattinson won the all-Australian battle against Warner in the 16th courtesy a diving effort by Ishan Kishan at short third-man, the game was all but over.

Jasprit Bumrah then proved too hot for the inexperienced Sunrisers lower order, which resulted in a comfortable win despite Abdul Samad tonking him for two sixes.

- De Kock hits half-century -

Earlier in the afternoon, de Kock’s knock ensured that Chris Lynn, the reserve opener, will have to keep cooling his heels. However, had Manish Pandey not dropped a regulation catch off leggie Samad at long-on in the seventh over, de Kock’s (on 16) and MI’s misery would have compounded. 

With captain Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav perishing in the PowerPlay, MI could have been reduced to 52 for three. Once he was let off the hook, de Kock set the platform for the Pandya brothers and Kieron Pollard to finish on a high.

The last six overs saw 74 runs being scored, with Krunal, the elder brother, ending the innings with 20 runs off the Siddarth Kaul’s last four balls.

Brief scores:Mumbai Indians 208/5 in 20 overs (Quinton de Kock 67, Kieron Pollard 25 not out, Krunal Pandya 20 not out; Rashid Khan 1/22) beats Sunrisers Hyderabad 174/7 in 20 overs (David Warner 60, Manish Pandey 30, Trent Boult 2/28) by 34 runs.