For the second game in a row, Mumbai Indians managed to come out on top in a close IPL 2021 game at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai. The defending champions successfully defended a score of 150 against Sunrisers Hyderabad to win the game by 13 runs on Saturday. Courtesy of this victory, Mumbai moved to the top of the table due to a better net run rate than second-placed Royal Challengers Bangalore.
SRH continues to struggle in Chennai as they are yet to win a game at the venue in six attempts. The inexperienced and young middle-order continues to struggle on this difficult surface as they once again choked in a run chase from a position of strength. Apart from SRH’s batting struggles, here are other key takeaways from Mumbai’s victory on Saturday.
Incredible consistency from Boult and Bumrah in death overs
Mumbai Indians continue to bank on their experienced pacers to see out a game even if they don’t have a lot of runs to defend. Trent Boult was brilliant in powerplay overs last season, but he has shone in the death overs this year. He managed to take three crucial wickets in the death on Saturday to help Mumbai to clinch an important victory.
At the other end, Mumbai always has two overs of Bumrah. These two overs are like gold dust as the Indian pacer is incredibly consistent in the death. He once again bowled two tight overs in the end against SRH and took the crucial wicket of Vijay Shankar to effectively kill the game for the Hyderabad-based franchise. If this duo operates in this way throughout IPL 2021, then Mumbai will be able to defend average totals for fun.
Mumbai and SRH had the right idea, but poor execution in batting
Mumbai decided to bat first after winning the toss, which was a completely different decision than what teams were doing in Chennai this season. However, having runs on the board was the right way to go considering results in past few games, so Mumbai’s decision to bat first was a no-brainer.
The defending champions came up with the right idea in terms of their batting approach on this wicket. They went gung-ho in powerplay overs, scoring almost at nine runs per over. Similarly, SRH also came out all guns blazing through a remarkable inning from Jonny Bairstow as they ended up with 57 runs in six overs. Both teams looked to consolidate in middle overs and then go big in the death. Mumbai got two aspects of this approach right, but a below-par middle overs session made sure that they managed 150 instead of 175. Meanwhile, SRH choked in death and middle overs to lose the game by 13 runs. Both teams had the right idea, but poor execution limited them from getting good team scores. Team are likely to follow same approach for remaining IPL 2021 games in Chennai.
Kieron Pollard once again comes clutch with the bat
Kieron Pollard has been enjoying good form for different teams in the past 18 months. He adds so much to this Mumbai squad with his batting, fielding, and bowling. Most importantly, when chips are down, Pollard always prevails and comes up with vital contributions.
Like all other batsmen, Pollard was also finding it difficult to score runs quickly from the word go. He had a slick of luck with him as Vijay Shankar dropped a dolly in the 18th over. Despite poor pitch, Pollard was able to come up with two big blows in the last over, which eventually turned out to be the difference between both sides. Pollard’s ability to come clutch with the bat when his team needs the most makes him one of the best all-time T-20 players. And yes, Pollard also rolled his arms to bowl economical two overs where he conceded only ten runs.