Twitter Reactions: Kishan, Suryakumar star as Mumbai Indians exit IPL 2021 on a high

After a superlative effort like that under the Abu Dhabi night sky, the MI think-tank would be ruing why they left it for so late.

By Pratyay Tiwari

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5 Min Read

Mumbai Indians
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Mumbai Indians. (photo source: IPL/BCCI)

Mumbai Indians ended their 2021 IPL campaign with a staggering, dominating 43-run win but could not tick the near-impossible qualification scenario against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the final league encounter of the season, which registered 428 runs, 51 fours and 11 sixes in toto.

Manish Pandey, who led SRH in the absence of injured Kane Williamson, had nowhere to against the might of Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav who smothered 166 runs combined, hitting 24 fours and seven sixes amongst them to power Mumbai to the 235/9, their highest total in the IPL history.

So belligerent was the Kishan-SKY assault that a mathematical miracle as impossible as the one Mumbai needed to ensure qualification started appearing achievable to the mind. But the other half of the equation – bowling SRH out for 65 or less – was too much.

Insane Ishan 

10, 11, 12, 13, 14. That’s how the economy rates of the SRH bowlers read because if the qualification equation for Mumbai was insane, the manner in which Kishan batted was no different. The southpaw pulped every SRH bowler on the night with equal disdain but the maximum brunt was borne by Siddharth Kaul, whom Kishan smacked for four consecutive fours as early as the second over of the innings to announce intentions loud and lucid.

The ridiculous extent of hitting was evident by the fact that Mumbai notched 83 in the powerplay despite the first and sixth over producing eight and five runs, respectively. Having notched up his half-century in just 16 deliveries, the joint-fourth quickest in IPL history, Kishan continued the brutal carnage alongside skipper Rohit Sharma, who ecstatically played the second fiddle before top-edging Rashid to Mohammad Nabi at square leg to walk back for 18 off 13.  Promoted at No. 3, Hardik Pandya could only add 10 before holing out to long-on off Jason Holder.

Brief hiccup…

Only seven overs of MI’s quota of 20 produced runs in single digits. Of those, four (no. 10-13) came on the trot, reaping only 27 at the loss of three after a phase that had left SRH breathless.

Kishan, who scored nearly 83 per cent of his runs in boundaries (11 fours and four sixes), found himself off the strike for a brief passage upon Kieron Pollard’s entry and was soon undone by Umran Malik, whom he edged behind to the keeper. Mumbai found themselves 151/5 soon thanks to Abhishek Sharma’s double strike: Pollard belted him straight down the ground, finding Jason Roy stationed at 180, in front of sight-screen, while James Neesham departed for a golden duck.

… before SKY spectacle 

His 2021 IPL tally might not give a reading as impressive as the previous editions but Yadav took inspiration from Kishan and rediscovered his lost form to rub more salt on the wounds of SRH, with a belligerent 40-ball 82.

After being toyed by Kishan, Kaul, who leaked 56 runs without any success, had more misery waiting for him as Yadav took the attack to him in the 14th over to up the scoring. Yadav also displayed why he is termed the Indian variant of AB de Villiers, disdainfully ramping and scooping Malik, who cranked up pace only to be mistreated and sent for a hat-trick of boundaries in the penultimate over.

Yadav, who smashed 13 fours and three sixes in his knock, deposited a Holder delivery in the deep to Nabi in the final over after taking a hit on the head in Malik’s previous. In between, Rashid and Holder sent back Krunal Pandya and Nathan Coulter-Nile cheaply, both caught by Nabi, who took a record five catches in the game.

MI peg back SRH after flying start

Out in unlikely pursuit of 237, Sunrisers Hyderabad got a flying start courtesy of openers Jason Roy and Abhishek Sharma, who attacked the new-ball bowlers and Piyush Chawla, on Mi debut, to race off 64 in just 5.2 overs. The first success for Mumbai arrived when Roy miscued a pull off Trent Boult that Krunal at fine leg made no mistake grabbing.

SRH continued to score runs but also continued to lose wickets as Sharma holed out to deep midwicket off Neesham to end his brisk 16-ball 33 cameo. They then lost wickets off consecutive overs when Chawla removed Nabi before Abdul Samad picked long-on to give Neesham his second.

Pandey’s fifty goes in vain

The SRH innings was brought back to life by skipper Manish Pandey and Priyam Garg’s 56-run stand after being reduced to 100/4. Pandey smashed seven fours and two sixes in his 69-ball 41 and stood unbeaten but had hardly any support after Jasprit Bumrah got Garg caught at mid-on for 29. Bumrah picked another when Rashid spooned a return catch to him, while Coulter-Nile ensured that Holder did not have any heroics to script as SRH was restricted to 193/8.

Mumbai Indians were out to do the unthinkable and that they even gave themselves a chance to think about doing it was a feat. After a superlative effort like that under the Abu Dhabi night sky, the MI think-tank would be ruing why they left it for so late.

Here’s how Twitter reacted:

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