HYDERABAD, India (AP) — Mumbai Indians broke into the top three of the Indian Premier League with a commanding seven-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad on Wednesday.
Impact player Rohit Sharma (70) hit his second straight half-century as Mumbai motored to 146-3 in 15.4 overs, propelling the five-time champions to third place on the points table after struggling early in the season.
Heinrich Klaasen’s 71 off 44 balls had earlier saved Hyderabad from complete destruction to score 143-8 with new ball bowlers Trent Boult (4-26) and Deepak Chahar (2-12) doing the most damage.
Boult and Chahar had left Hyderabad on the mat at 13-4 with Ishan Kishan falling in a bizarre fashion. The on-field umpire first declared Chahar’s leg-side delivery a wide but changed his decision and lifted his finger when he saw Kishan walking back. However, the television replays later showed that the ball had missed the bat as Kishan tried to flick Chahar.
Klaasen revived the innings by combining in a 99-run stand with Abhinav Manohar before Jasprit Bumrah completed 300 wickets in T20 cricket when Klaasen missed out the low full toss and was caught at deep mid-wicket in the penultimate over.
Boult, who had removed openers Travis Head for nought and Abhishek Sharma for eight in his opening spell, bagged two more wickets in the last over when Manohar got hit wicket. The left-arm New Zealand fast bowler then clean bowled captain Pat Cummins with a perfect yorker.
It’s a remarkable turnaround for Mumbai, which won only one of its first five games before bouncing back with four successive wins. Hyderabad is at No. 9, just ahead of last-place Chennai Super Kings.
___
AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket
The Associated Press
