Mumbai Checkmate SRH Batters on a Slow Home Turf

With liberal use of slower balls, MI bowlers restricted SRH's power-packed batters to 162 runs

- Rasesh Mandani

MUMBAI: Sunrisers Hyderabad had their fair share of good luck, but on a balmy evening at the Wankhede Stadium, it wasn't enough against the concrete plans that the Mumbai Indians had come up with.

In a battle between two struggling teams, MI prevailed with a comfortable four-wicket win on Thursday despite losing some late wickets in chasing down 163.

SRH were high on opposition know-how, they thought. Ishan Kishan, with all his years spent in MI colours, was expected to make merry. But this wasn't your typical hit-through-the-line Wankhede strip. The ball seemed to hold on the surface in the first innings and it neutralised SRH's batting threat.

Deepak Chahar could have given MI a dream start without any assistance from the pitch, if not for some slippery fingers. The pacer could have accounted for both Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head in the first over of the match. While SRH were riding all the luck, Bumrah was pressed into action in the fourth over. He began with an assortment of slower balls, bouncers, yorkers.