Mumbai Indians stroll into IPL play-offs

Sport360 staff 06:18 18/05/2015
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  • In the wickets: J Sudith celebrates.

    Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma hailed the never-say-die spirit of his team as the 2013 champions continued their remarkable turnaround and waltzed into the play-offs yesterday with a dominating nine-wicket victory against Sunrisers Hyderabad.

    In what was a virtual shoot-out between the two teams at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad, the Mumbai bowlers performed brilliantly to bowl out the hosts for 113 on the last ball of their 20th over. They then raced to the target losing just one wicket in the 14th over. 

    The win ensured Indians, who started the campaign with four straight losses, finished second in the table, thus giving them two chances to make it to the final.

    They first take on two-time champions Chennai Super Kings in the Qualifier 1 tomorrow at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, and if they lose, they will get another go make it to the final by taking on the winners of the Eliminator match.

    It was their eighth win in last 10 matches, having started the season in the worst possible manner with four losses in four matches.

    An overwhelmed Sharma said: “It’s been a great journey. We’ve had a mixed season. We didn’t start off well, but I’m pleased to get through.

    “The boys never dropped their heads and it was important to be positive. It was good to see our guys take up the challenge and after the first few games, we have turned it around completely. It’s all about seizing the opportunity.

    “We had to be on our A game always. It really was a clinical performance from the first ball.”

    A downbeat Hyderabad skipper David Warner said: “Obviously, a disappointing way to finish. The early wickets set the tone for the innings and we didn’t give the bowlers enough to defend.”

    On what looked like a beautiful batting surface, Mumbai struck two deadly blows in the first two overs, including that of Warner.

    Lasith Malinga dished out the perfect yorker that sneaked under the bat of Shikhar Dhawan and bowled him, and Mitchell McClenaghan, induced an edge from Warner with a sharp bouncer which was taken gleefully by Kieron Pollard.

    Moises Henriques looked like taking the fight to the Indians, but he became the first of two quick strikes from left-arm spinner J Suchith.

    After Morgan was removed by McClenaghan (who was named Man of the Match for his 3-16), Henriques was foxed by Suchith’s flight and stumped. He then dismissed Naman Ojha off his next ball as Hyderabad slumped to 51-5 and never recovered.

    The run-chase was always going to be easy, but it was made a formality thanks to the opening partnership of Parthiv Patel (51no in 37 balls) and Lendl Simmons (48 in 44b), who put on 106 runs in 13.2 overs.

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