Pat Cummins and SRH got off the mark on the points table in IPL 2024. After a loss by only 4 runs against KKR, SRH defeated MI in a high-scoring encounter in Hyderabad by 31 runs.
Although the margin of victory of 31 runs may look big in T20 cricket, it could have been a loss for SRH despite them piling up 277 runs, which is the highest-ever total in IPL history.
For more than half of their innings, Mumbai Indians were parallel with the required rate and everyone really wondered whether MI could pull off the unthinkable after conceding this total. But it was Pat Cummins’ inspirational bowling and bold captaincy choices that pulled the game toward SRH for good.
There were two key events in Mumbai’s chase that helped SRH gain an upper hand even when MI were going hammer and tongs. And it was the SRH’s Aussie captain whose temperament and calmness came to the fore in these moments.
2 big turning points in Mumbai Indians’ chase forced by SRH captain Pat Cummins:
Bowling Shahbaz Ahmed to Ishan Kishan in the powerplay
Ishan Kishan started off like a bullet train and smoked 28 (11) with MI reaching 50 in only three overs. Then Pat Cummins made a really bold call – one that was not anticipated by anyone and it could have backfired horribly for him – by giving Shahbaz Ahmed, a left arm orthodox spinner, the ball in the 4th over.
With Ahmed turning the ball into the left-handed Kishan, and that too in the powerplay, this move baffled and shocked everyone. Kishan duly slogged Ahmed for a six on the first ball. But Cummins’ genius and Ahmed’s smarts delivered as on the next ball, Kishan once again went for a six, but this time he was caught at deep mid-wicket. SRH put some halts in MI’s early charge in their powerplay with Kishan’s wicket.
Bhuvneshwar and Cummins create jams on MI’s run rate in overs 13-15
MI were 165-3 after 12 overs with Tilak Varma now set and smoking the ball everywhere and Hardik Pandya, too, had hit a six and a four. At this point, a successful chase looked like a reality.
But Cummins and Bhuvneshwar Kumar turned it all for SRH. In the 13th over, Bhuvneshwar conceded only 5 runs. Then in the 15th over, Cummins dismissed Varma and conceded only 3 runs. During this, Hardik Pandya was also tied down and the required run rate shot up. Even Tim David’s assault later on couldn’t bring MI close to the target.
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Also Read: “MI Didn’t Bowl Their Best Bowler”: Klaasen Trolls Hardik Pandya For Poor Use Of Bumrah
