IPL 2020 | MI vs SRH Evaluation Chart - Warner-Saha hammer indolent Mumbai to propel SRH into playoffs

ByHarshit Anand, SportsCafe Editor

11/03/2020

Hyderabad put up a complete display as Warner and Saha blasted a toothless Mumbai bowling sans Bumrah and Boult to all parts of the ground, inflicting damage to the side's morale and momentum. The game was set up by Shahbaz Nadeem's double-strike in the 12th over, which restricted MI to 149.

Ratings chart

Powerplay exploitation

MI 7.5/10 - 48 runs, two wickets, it was as even stevens a start as you would find. Mumbai were off to a flyer with De Kock (25 off 13) pounding Sandeep Sharma before getting out on a full toss while Suryakumar Yadav's (19* off 12) elite intent was again on display. But losing Rohit cheaply wasn't the best thing, given he needed game time.

SRH 10/10 - PERFECT TEN-POINTER! With a run-rate of 9.33, SRH openers blasted 56 runs and made Mumbai miss Boult and Bumrah dearly. To get such sort of start in a tricky chase of 150 is like having 80% of the game under your control. Both Saha and Warner were unfazed with the pressure and took on the bowlers with relative ease, punishing everyone who came to bowl.

Middle-overs maneuvering

MI 3/10 - Mumbai showed great intent post powerplay overs and the duo of Kishan and SKY even took on Rashid Khan, which not many teams do, taking 19 off his first two. But, then Shahbaz Nadeem came out of syllabus as he struck twice in two deliveries and within the space of seven balls, MI lost SKY, Krunal and Tiwary as they made 50 in the middle-overs.

SRH 10/10 - PERFECT! After a flying start in the powerplay, SRH openers never let the MI bowlers take a breather in the game as they kept hammering the hapless bowlers with Warner back to his absolute best. Saha also chipped in with some delightful strokes. SRH were as good as the INVINCIBLES.

Death bowling

SRH 5/10 - SRH's death bowling could be divided into two parts - T Natarajan and others. The yorker specialist Natarajan leaked 31 in his two overs with Pollard turning his low-full-tosses into fours/sixes while other bowlers gave merely 20 in their three overs nailing down three wickets. MI managed 51 off the final five, with SRH losing steam at the end.

Snapshots

Sandeep Sharma's knack for big fishes

Filling in the boots of Bhuvesnhwar Kumar was a difficult task, especially given how overly dependent SRH were on Rashid Khan and him, but Sandeep Sharma has been a revelation for Hyderabad, making full use of his experience in the league. Rohit, de Kock, Kishan Padikkal, Kohli, Dhawan and Pant have been his last seven victims. Today, it was the fourth consecutive game when he took two wickets or more, which is some consistency, that too in the business end of the tourney with your team's back against the wall. He loves getting the better of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. It was the second time this season and fourth time overall where he bamboozled Rohit, whose strike-rate is a pale 88.10 against the swinger. As for Kohli, he has seen his back seven times, the most by anyone in the league. Now that is some achievement.

Rohit Sharma’s comeback unsettling MI's batting

There are some pretty basic things that you never want to mess with. For instance, when a batter is making full use of a certain batting position and winning games, changing his position. But Rohit Sharma being the Rohit Sharma, Kishan had to be demoted to 4 with him opening. Result - Rohit on a slow pitch against a slow ball sans game practice made 4 off 7 and the man in red-hot form, Ishan Kishan, could manage only 33 off 30. Notably, Kishan (428 runs, 47.55/140.32) has scored more runs, at a better average and strike-rate than Sharma (264 runs, 26.40/126.92). Mumbai's batting didn't take the change well as they completely got derailed under pressure. Hopefully for MI, it doesn't destroy their momentum going into the playoffs like we have so often seen with teams approaching the business end.

Test WK Saha to give 'Intent' class to Indian T20I batters

Wriddhiman Saha has been a revelation and has completely changed SRH’s opening dynamic. Today again, he prospered with the bat, showing an elite intent to take MI bowlers to the cleaners. He got the Hyderabad innings going with an exceptional inside-out six off Coulter-Nile, followed it up with three fours in the next eight deliveries and SRH were 24/0 after three with Saha on 21* off 13 and Warner on 2* off 5. Unexpected eh? It helped calm SRH's nerves in the big game, after which Warner took over. Despite being a Test wicket-keeper, Saha has shown better intent than the likes of Rahul, Iyer and Pandey, and even Kohli who uses the 'I' word quite often. And it was not a one-off, he had made 39 off 32 and 87 off 45 against RCB and DC in the last two games as well.

Turning Point

After Quinton de Kock's wicket, MI innings might have slowed down but both Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav were set at the crease. After having looted 19 off Rashid's first two overs, they must have fancied plundering SRH attack, but then Shahbaz Nadeem struck twice in three deliveries off the 12th over as he sent back a good looking SKY and then Krunal Pandya to suck momentum out of MI innings.

Match Frenzy O Meter - Decent

So, this was a one-sided game, which has been the case in the last few encounters as the tournament is heading towards the playoffs stage. But, at least, unlike yesterday, when both DC and RCB were playing as if they were walking on fire, there was one team today playing with flair and fire and that was SRH, who first enthralled with their bowling and then Saha-Warner masterclass entertained the fans as they hit a flurry of boundaries to seal victory.