If Shahbaz Nadeem and Wriddhiman Saha were your key picks for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) to reach the play-offs, your thing would be to look at the glass. Nadeem played five games at IPL13, Saha one less, but they helped restrict the Mumbai Indians (MI) to 149/8, an SRH goal he reached in 17.1 overs without losing a wicket to push Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). out of the top four in net execution rate.
From 81/2, MI slipped to 81/4 when Nadeem fired Surya Kumar Yadav and Krunal Pandya in four installments of the 12th. The former needed a clever punch from Saha before Kane Williamson caught Pandya with an effort that showed kiwis could fly. Nadeem deserved credit for going to Yadav and using the slow wicket to get Pandya to play early. When Rashid Khan fired Saurabh Tiwary, Saha took a smart catch, LMs were 82/5 after 12.1.
Jason Holder also helped show just how crucial SRH’s irregulars were to them by winning four of their last five games and erasing the aftermath of that bad loss to Kings XI Punjab. A replacement for Mitchell Marsh’s injury, Holder has taken 10 wickets in five games and hit a 26-ball in the win against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). Used at Jonny Bairstow’s expense, Holder’s presence has made the SRH appear more balanced.
In Sharjah on Tuesday, Holder fired Kieron Pollard in the last over after being traded for a six. In 19, Pollard had beaten Thangarasu Natarajan for three sixes, meaning MI could have gotten 15 more if Pollard had survived.
Not that it would have mattered considering how Saha (58; 4×7; 6×1) and David Warner (85; 4×10; 6×1) hit as the spray began. MI rested Jaspreet Bumrah and Trent Boult and as conditions became difficult for bowling, SRH showed his starters were sufficient.
Saha hit Nathan Coulter-Nile for a six over the middle and followed him with a raised limit over the middle. Batting in Bairstow-Warner mode, Saha hit two more fours in the next over, thrown by Dhawal Kulkarni in his first IPL13 game.
Warner joined in, hitting James Pattinson by three fours with two cuts and a pull to the fourth and SRH never looked back.
Injured and out for four games, IM captain Rohit Sharma returned but lasted seven balls before becoming Sandeep Sharma’s first victim. Sandeep Sharma landed two more wickets on wide, full pitches, sending Quinton de Kock and Ishan Kishan shooting off the inside edges. It was that kind of night for SSR. The only other time SRH won by 10 wickets was in 2016 and it came in a season where they won the IPL.
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