IPL 2021: Rahul Chahar, Trent Boult shine as Mumbai Indians beat SRH by 13 runs

MI spinner Rahul Chahar celebrates a wicket on Saturday. Pics/BCCI; IPL

Mumbai Indians seemed to have mastered the art of defending low totals as the defending champions once again pulled off a sensational win over Sunrisers Hyderabad at the MA Chidambaram Stadium here on Saturday.

Mumbai Indians successfully defended 150-5 after bowling out SRH for 137 in 19.4 overs to win their IPL match by 13 runs. For SRH, this was their third successive defeat. SRH openers Jonny Bairstow (22-ball 43) and skipper David Warner (36) provided a fiery start, but the momentum changed quickly after losing their top three batsmen in 25 balls.

Chahar, Boult shine

From 67 for one, SRH slumped to 90-3 and sank further as MI leggie Rahul Chahar finished with 4-0-19-3. Vijay Shankar's 25-ball 28 lifted the mood in the SRH camp but his dismissal ended their hopes. Trent Boult (3.4-0.28-3) and Jasprit Bumrah (4-0-14-1) also played a major role in pulling off this win for MI.

Earlier, Shankar and Mujeeb Ur Rahman shone with the ball as Sunrisers Hyderabad produced a disciplined bowling performance to restrict Mumbai Indians to 150 for 5.

The opening duo of Rohit Sharma (32 off 25) and Quinton de Kock (40 off 39) scored 53 in the powerplay after opting to bat but Vijay (2-19) and Afghanistan spin duo of Mujeeb (2-29) and Rashid Khan (0-22) brought the Sunrisers back in the game.

Kieron Pollard managed to lift MI to 150 with the help of a 22-ball 35 which included two sixes off the last two balls of the innings. Rohit completed 4,000 T20 runs as skipper and also surpassed Mahendra Singh Dhoni's record of hitting the most number of sixes by an Indian in the tournament.

The 33-year-old now has 217 sixes in IPL, one ahead of Dhoni. He occupies the third place in the overall list after Punjab Kings' Chris Gayle (351) and Royal Challengers Bangalore's AB de Villiers (237).

Rohit, De Kock on fire

With Rohit and De Kock in full flow, it seemed MI would put up a big score. However, MI soon slipped to 71 for 2 with Shankar dismissing Rohit and Suryakumar Yadav (10) in his two overs.

While the MI skipper holed out to Virat Singh in the sixth over, Suryakumar was caught and bowled in the ninth over. Rashid Khan and Mujeeb then tightened the screws on MI as the well-set De Kock perished at deep mid-wicket in his pursuit for a big shot. Pollard then joined Ishan Kishan (12 off 21) in the middle but scoring
remained difficult.

With MI at 107 for 3 in 16 overs, Pollard clubbed one over mid-wicket to break the shackles but Mujeeb soon dismissed Ishan with wicketkeeper Bairstow taking a fabulous catch. New man Hardik Pandya and Pollard couldn't produce their trademark hitting as the former holed out to Virat in the deep.

Brief scores
MI 150-5 in 20 overs (Q de Kock 40, K Pollard 35', R Sharma 32; V Shankar 2-19, Mujeeb 2-29) beat SRH 137 all out in 19.4 overs (J Bairstow 43, D Warner 36, V Shankar 28; R Chahar 3-19, T Boult 3-28) by 13 runs

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