IPL 2016: Sunrisers Hyderabad beat Mumbai Indians by 85 runs at Visakhapatnam, Stars and Flops

Shikhar Dhawan's gritty show with the bat and Ashish Nehra's brilliant top spell guide Sunrisers Hyderabad to the top spot in the IPL Points Table.

Not too long back Hyderabad was solely a part of Andhra Pradesh, the state that held the Sunday’s encounter between Mumbai Indians (MI) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). Home advantage is always special but unfortunately, the drought issue in Maharashtra resulted in some last moment alterations. MI played their first home game at Visakhapatnam but SRH put up a dominating display to down the defending champions by 85 runs. It was a solid performance by SRH with the bat and a clinical show with the ball.

This defeat not only helped SRH to climb to the top spot in the IPL points table but also a massive setback to MI in terms of net run-rate. It did not start bad for MI, Rohit Sharma called right at the toss and expectedly bowled first but from thereon, we witnessed a David Warner carnage.

The SRH skipper has been the backbone of the side’s success and his 32-ball 48 once again placed SRH in a commanding position. His opening partner Shikhar Dhawan took on things from there, striking an unbeaten 82 to help Hyderabad post 177 on the board. SRH’s weak middle-order was a concern when the tournament started but Yuvraj Singh’s return seems to have changed that. The southpaw’s quick-fire 39 helped Dhawan’s cause. ALSO READ: IPL 2016, Match 37, Pick of the tweets: Mumbai Indians vs Sunrisers Hyderabad at Visakhapatnam

Chasing down 178 was not going to be impossible. Rohit had been exceptional while chasing and MI had firepower aplenty in the likes of Jos Buttler and Kieron Pollard. However, they were up against a bowling attack, which is the best in the tournament.

SRH bowling attack lived up to its reputation. While Bhuvneshwar Kumar dismissed Parthiv Patel in the first over, veteran Ashish Nehra picked three wickets in his first spell, reducing MI to 30 for four in the fourth over. None of the MI batsmen could counter the SRH bowling and the ever dependable Mustafizur Rahman dug in-roads in the MI lower middle-order and it was over for them

Turning Point: Nehra’s first spell that saw the wickets of Rohit, Rayudu, and Buttler which undoubtedly turned the game completely in SRH’s favour. In hindsight, Rohit’s wicket in the second over proved to be the key as the MI skipper had been excellent in chases. Expectedly, Nehra won the Man-of-the-Match.

Brief Scores:

Sunrisers Hyderabad 177 in 20 overs [David Warner 48 (33), Shikhar Dhawan 82 (57), Yuvraj Singh 39 (23); Harbhajan Singh 4-0-29-2] bt Mumbai Indians 92 in 16.3 overs [Ashish Nehra 3-0-15-3, Barinder Sran 3.3-0-18-2, Mustafizur Rahman 3-0-16-3] by 85 runs.