Mumbai: Mumbai Indians experienced a mid-season boost after achieving their fourth consecutive victory on Wednesday against Sunrisers Hyderabad. By cruising to a seven-wicket win in just 15. 4 overs, powered by Rohit Sharma’s 70 (46b, 8x4, 3x6), the five-time champions ascended to third place in the points table. In contrast, SRH faced their fourth consecutive defeat, leaving them stuck in ninth place on the points table.

MI bowlers traveled from Mumbai to Hyderabad while ensuring they brought along the pace-off bowling strategy that had previously subdued formidable batters in Orange the previous week. That strategy was sufficient to compel SRH into submission on a dry pitch at the Uppal stadium during the key Powerplay.

Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan were dismissed by effectively executed slower balls. The deluge began when Travis Head came out aggressively against Trent Boult and got caught at deep backward point. Nitish Reddy’s struggles continued as he was unable to find his timing and drove Deepak Chahar directly into the hands of mid-on. None of their top four batters reached double figures, which resulted in SRH being reduced to 24/4 after the first 6 overs.

That was merely one-third of the runs they might typically score on a favorable day, with only two fielders positioned at the boundary. The fearlessness that had previously instilled dread in their opponents last year appears to have vanished, alongside sensible batting. When presented with a pitch that isn’t a high-scoring one, the top order, designed to be aggressive, fails to adjust.

SRH has experienced very few successful days this season, which has depleted the confidence of their batters. This was evident when Kishan walked off, assuming he had edged one down the leg side, but replays revealed that the nick was undetected by the Snickometer.

The home side lost another wicket when Aniket Verma was dismissed in the 9th over with the score sitting at only 35. This dismissal was also due to a slower ball, this time bowled by Hardik Pandya.

On occasions like this, the Impact Sub can provide a crucial opportunity. SRH was compelled to fortify their batting lineup by substituting in Abhinav Manohar after taking out Head. He certainly made a notable impact!

Before exiting the stage, having been dismissed in the last over, Manohar scored 43 (37b, 2x4, 3x6) and contributed significantly. While he secured some late boundaries at the end, he primarily played a supportive role during his 63-ball partnership of 99 runs for the sixth wicket with Heinrich Klassen.

The South African showcased a masterclass in boundary hitting on a slow pitch, quickly identifying lengths off the back foot against deliveries intended to make hitting the ball challenging. Klassen, scoring 71 (44b, 9x4, 2x6), began by taking Vignesh Puthur out of the attack and maintained his timing, which helped offset the dry surface.

However, the men in Orange were so far behind in the match during the first half of their innings that the Klaasen-Manohar partnership was able to elevate them only to a total of 143. This gave them merely a fighting chance.

After Boult (4-0-26-4) and Chahar (4-0-12-2) achieved the initial breakthroughs, Mitchell Santner followed up for MI with an excellent spell of defensive bowling (4-0-19-0) to maintain control over the SRH total.

Rohit in form

Another quick start from Rohit Sharma ensured that SRH couldn’t make early advances during the Powerplay. Rohit displayed his signature pull shot early against Pat Cummins, moved down the wicket to counter Jaydev Unadkat’s left-arm challenge, and sent Zeeshan Ansari’s googly soaring into the mid-wicket stands. All unfavorable match-ups were handled adeptly, as the former MI captain continued his upward trajectory in run-scoring after a sluggish start to the season.

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