Sunrisers stun Mumbai Indians by 7 wickets

Mumbai, May 1: Sunrisers Hyderabad put on a clinical performance at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad to annihilate the formidable Mumbai Indians by seven wickets. Shikhar Dhawan, at his authoritative best, led SRH with an undefeated 73 after the home team bowlers had restricted MI to just 129.

Chasing a meager 130, Dhawan hit a couple of boundaries off Dhawal Kulkarni in the second over. Mitchell Johnson provided the initial breakthrough, having Akshath Reddy (7) caught by Dwayne Smith off a slower delivery. Kumar Sangakkara played two gorgeous strokes to the boundary off Harbhajan Singh as SRH made 36 from their power play.

Dhawan stepped out to hit Harbhajan for a six before Sangakkara (21) departed caught and bowled. At the halfway stage, SRH were 61 for 2, still needing 69 runs. SRH put their foot on the pedal with three boundaries off Smith in the 12th over. Dhawan brought up his fifty with a brilliant cover drive off Lasith Malinga. The southpaw then smashed Johnson for two boundaries in the 15th over. Hanuma Vihari (25) who played second fiddle in the 74-run third wicket partnership with Dhawan fell with his team on the brink of victory; he was caught by Ambati Rayudu off Kulkarni. SRH eventually reached the target with 12 balls remaining.

Earlier MI won the toss and elected to bat on a slow wicket. Smith got MI rolling with a boundary off the first delivery. Smith hit the first six off Ishant Sharma in the third over. Sachin Tendulkar joined in with consecutive boundaries off Dale Steyn. Ishant Sharma struck twice in the fifth over to peg back MI. First he bowled Tendulkar (14) before having Dinesh Karthik (0) caught by Karan Sharma at point. Rohit Sharma hit Thisara Perera for consecutive boundaries as MI made 41 from their power play.

Smith was given a chance on 25 when Ishant Sharma dropped him off Amit Mishra. Rohit Sharma (22) holed out off Mishra before Smith (38) was adjudged leg before couple of balls later. Keiron Pollard (14*) and Ambati Rayudu (34*) struggled to score runs as SRH bowlers bowled some tight miserly lines. MI took 16 runs from the final over with three boundaries that eventually enabled them to finish at 129 for 4.

Man-of-the-Match: Ishant Sharma

Brief Scores: Mumbai Indians 129 for 4 (Dwayne Smith 38, Ishant Sharma 2-15) lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad 130 for 3 (Shikhar Dhawan 73*, Dhawal Kulkarni 1-13) by 7 wickets.