Mumbai Indians made the most of a slow wicket at the Wankhede which was perhaps tailor-made to thwart Sunrisers Hyderabad’s explosive batters. It worked perfectly for the home team as they pulled off a four-wicket victory with 11 balls remaining on Thursday.

The 163-run chase wasn’t going to be easy but Rohit Sharma provided Mumbai with a flourishing start. Will Jacks, who had taken two vital wickets with his off spin earlier, then held the innings together with 36 off 26 balls before their middle order ensured a second victory on the trot.

Sunrisers now have two wins in seven games and are dangerously close to the point of no return, needing to win six of their last seven to harbour any hopes of qualifying. Mumbai Indians stay in the running with their third win in IPL 2025.

Rohit sizzles

Rohit hasn’t been in the best of form this season. His 26 off 16 balls still proved to be crucial as Mumbai Indians needed the momentum.

Rohit has always put team ahead of individual performances and has spoken about it in the context of Team India. His ideology hasn’t changed a bit in franchise cricket too.

He had a bit of luck early in the innings — a few swings-and-misses against Mohammed Shami and Pat Cummins — with his first six coming off a thick edge. But he middled the ball thereafter, pulling Shami and then Cummins for a pair of big sixes.

However, in his effort to clear the ground again, he drove a full-toss straight to Travis Head at cover point.

Cummins threat

Pat Cummins helped his team stage a comeback with three vital wickets but didn’t get much support at the other end.

After removing Rohit, he struck with two consecutive wickets in two overs — Suryakumar Yadav and Jacks — but Hardik Pandya played a useful innings to take his team home.

Cummins’ hard-length deliveries were hard to get away and dismissed both Surya and Jacks at a critical juncture. The pair had put on 52 off 29 balls and were threatening to break free.

Surya and Jacks failed to get power into their pull against Cummins which led to their dismissals.

Batters struggle

Sunrisers Hyderabad huffed and puffed before racing their way to 162/5 in their 20 overs.

The visitors had come into this match on the back of a whirlwind batting performance against Punjab Kings, especially by their opener Abhishek Sharma. But the wicket and some disciplined bowling restricted them on Thursday.

Abhishek and Travis Head, especially the former, got the team off to a brisk start with 46 in the Powerplay overs. But the fall of three quick wickets affected their momentum.

The first eight overs of the innings accumulated 65 runs for the loss of Abhishek’s wicket, the next nine overs cost 50, including three dismissals, while the last three produced 47 runs.

The late flourish was mainly due to Aniket Verma, one of the uncapped finds of this edition. He continued with his big-hitting ways scoring 18 off eight balls, including
two sixes.

The way he generated enough power against a Hardik slower ball to flat-bat him over covers for a six was commendable. He followed it up with a whip behind square off a low full-toss for another six off the next ball.

Cummins too joined the party, finishing the innings with another leg-side six off a full-toss off the last ball. Hardik’s last over yielded 22 runs.

There were no sixes in the first 17 overs of the innings, but Heinrich Klaasen hit two off Deepak Chahar in the 18th.