Cameron Green displayed his brute power during the first half-century of the IPL before Arjun Tendulkar bowled a brilliant 20th over under immense pressure as Mumbai Indians beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by 14 runs to register their third consecutive win, here on Tuesday.
Green (64 not out off 40) and Tilak Verma (37 off 17) put on a challenging 192 for five after Mumbai Indians were put into bat.
With the odd ball not coming on the bat, it was difficult to hit boundaries from the start but Sunrisers recovered from a simple powerplay to take the game deeper with the help of openers Mayank Agarwal (48 off 41) and Heinrich Klaasen (48). Gave. 36 off 16).
In the end, they fell short and were all out for 178 in 19.5 overs for their third defeat in five matches.
While Agarwal scored some much-needed runs, it was Klaasen’s knock that put Mumbai under pressure. The South African attacked veteran leggie Piyush Chawla, hitting him for fours and sixes in his 21-run over.
Sunrisers needed 60 off the last 30 balls and Marco Jansen (13 off 6) and Washington Sundar (10 off 6) made the game interesting before the latter’s fortuitous running between the wickets cost them.
Tendulkar, playing his second IPL, again bowled two overs with the new ball and returned to bowl the high-pressure final over with Sunrisers needing 20 runs.
Tendulkar chose to bowl full and wide and was able to get the job done for his team. He got his first IPL wicket in the process.
Earlier, the fast-rising Verma and Green took Mumbai to a competitive total. Other contributions came from skipper Rohit Sharma (28 off 18 balls) and Ishan Kishan (38 off 31 balls).
The 20-year-old Verma has been the standout batsman in the star-studded Mumbai line-up and his rare talent and skill was on display again in his crucial cameos.
Mumbai were finding it difficult to score runs in the middle overs but a high-quality knock from Verma provided the much-needed momentum to the innings.
The lanky Marco Jansen was punished for 21 runs in the 15th over when Verma sent him for consecutive sixes, one over cow corner and another over the bowler’s head.
In the very next over, the southpaw used his wrists beautifully for four overs off leg-spinner Mayank Markande to cover for an extra four and swept him for a maximum of 14 runs in the over.
Green, who initially struggled to get his timing right, got down to business after Verma’s dismissal. The tall right-handed batsman brought up his half-century by hitting T Natarajan for three consecutive fours before hitting a straight six in the 20-run over.
Natarajan looted runs in the 20th over and looted 50 runs in his four overs. Mumbai managed to score 62 runs in the last five overs.
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