IPL 2023: Green is a true blue

Cameron Green during his 100 not out yesterday. Pic/Ashish Raje

Though it was all blue at the Wankhede Stadium during the Mumbai Indians (MI) versus Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) game on Sunday, it was a Green that came shining through. Australian all-rounder Cameron Green, 23, smashed a memorable hundred for MI to register an eight-wicket win with 12 balls to spare in their last league game, a do-or-die encounter.

MI's Uttarakhand pacer Akash Madhwal (4-37) shouldered responsibility perfectly to restrict Hyderabad to 200-5 before Green did his star turn. The hosts suffered an early blow when opener Ishan Kishan (14) succumbed to Bhuvneshwar Kumar's slower delivery as mid-on fielder Harry Brook took a good diving catch to his left to have MI at 20-1 in the third over.

Cameron starts with a bang

However, one-drop batsman Green (47-ball 100 not out), who opened his account with a well-timed on-driven four off Bhuvneshwar, played the same shot off the second ball from left-arm pacer Mayank Dagar. SRH brought in pacer Kartik Tyagi as an Impact Player, replacing their batting star of the day, Mayank Agarwal. Green first took a six off him and ended the over with a couple of crisp fours.

Green raced to his 50 in 20 balls, reaching his half-century by smashing leg-spinner Vivrant Sharma for a six over the bowler's head. The tall right-hander's impact knock was laced with eight fours and as many sixes. SRH pacer Umran Malik (0-41), who made a comeback in this game, will probably never forget his third over in which he conceded 20 runs - three fours and a six courtesy Green.

When mid-day asked Green whether this was his best knock considering the amount of pressure surrounding the game, Green said: "Yes definitely... in the T20 format. You never know what is your best innings because you are playing in so many different conditions."

While elaborating on the team's mindset over a winning target, Green said they were just thinking of a good win. "Our intention was to win the game. We were not going to try and chase down the target in the seventh over anyway or anything to try and boost our [net] run-rate. We know how close games can get here at Wankhede, both teams score really freely out here. All we were thinking was to win and put pressure on RCB (who were playing table-toppers Gujarat Titans in the Garden City later in the evening)," Green explained.

Green attracted high praise from SRH head coach Brian Lara. "I use the word ‘outmuscled.' He was brutal. Someone like that, his height, his reach, the leverage he has, when he gets the ball off the middle of the bat, it's going to go [big]. A brilliant hundred. He bats fearlessly; I suppose that's how he has been allowed to bat in the Mumbai Indians set up. We all knew that he has the talent to go big. Credit to him to get his first hundred," Lara remarked.

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Rohit dropped twice

Even though Green showcased his attacking mood, MI skipper Rohit Sharma (37-ball 56) was equally good while getting to a 50 in 31 balls. However, Rohit enjoyed a life when he was on 12; dropped by mid-wicket fielder Sanvir Singh off pacer Nitish Kumar Reddy.

Sanvir provided another life to Rohit when he was on 51. This time, Tyagi was the unlucky bowler who witnessed a dropped catch in the covers. Rohit smashed eight fours and a six before point fielder Reddy held on to a splendid catch off Dagar.

Earlier, put in to bat, SRH openers, Mayank Agarwal (46-ball 83, 8x4, 4x6) and left-hander Vivrant Sharma (47-ball 69, 9x4, 2x6) put 53 runs on the board in the Powerplay. They put on 140 in 13.5 overs, but MI bounced back through Madhwal's disciplined bowling.

Brief scores
SRH 200-5 in 20 overs (M Agarwal 83, V Sharma 69; A Madhwal 4-37) lost to MI 201-2 in 18 overs (C Green 100', R Sharma 56) by eight wickets