IPL 2023: 69th Match SRH vs MI: May 21, 2023

Mumbai Indians played a fantastic match, chasing down a target of 201 runs in an emphatic manner. However, their fate now rests on the outcome of the fixture between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Gujarat Titans on Sunday evening. Mumbai Indians would hope for Royal Challengers Bangalore to defeat the Titans at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. In fact, even a washout in Bengaluru wouldn’t be unfavorable for Mumbai, considering the rainy weather leading up to the game.

Initially, it seemed like a challenging task for Mumbai Indians as Sunrisers’ openers Mayank Agarwal and Vivrant Sharma had a strong opening partnership of 140 runs in just 13.5 overs. However, Mumbai made a comeback in the death overs, restricting Sunrisers to just 32 runs in the last four overs. Mumbai’s chase made it evident that even if Sunrisers had scored an additional 20 runs, it would not have made a significant difference.

Sunrisers did have some control early on when Bhuvneshwar Kumar dismissed Ishan Kishan early, and the first three overs went for only 24 runs. However, the turning point came when Rohit Sharma was given a reprieve on 12 due to a dropped catch by Sanvir Singh. Rohit Sharma, along with Cameron Green, capitalized on the opportunity and led Mumbai’s chase.

Before the Mumbai Indians’ chase, Agarwal and Vivrant had initially struggled to score quickly but managed to set up the game. Vivrant’s aggressive hits in the powerplay off Piyush Chawla changed the momentum. Agarwal also played aggressively and reached his half-century off just 32 balls.

Sunrisers started to gain momentum, but Akash Madhwal provided some relief to Mumbai by dismissing Vivrant for 69. However, Heinrich Klaasen, in-form for Sunrisers, hit a boundary off his first ball, negating the relief. Agarwal continued his onslaught, hitting Kumar Kartikeya and Piyush Chawla for boundaries and rapidly approaching his century.

Madhwal took the key wicket of Agarwal, who fell for 83 runs off 45 balls. Sunrisers struggled to find boundaries in the death overs and finished with a score just above 200, aided by a last-ball six by Aiden Markram.

During Mumbai’s innings, Sunrisers had an opportunity to dismiss Rohit Sharma, but Sanvir dropped a straightforward catch. This miss proved costly as Green capitalized on the next ball, hitting a six. The dropped catch made a significant difference in the performance of young Nitish Kumar Reddy.

Green played a sensational innings, scoring a century off just 47 balls, while Rohit Sharma surpassed 11,000 T20 runs. Mumbai’s batsmen exploited the loose bowling from Sunrisers’ spinners, taking control of the game. Suryakumar Yadav also played a crucial role, hitting his first ball for a four.

In the end, Mumbai comfortably achieved the target with two overs to spare, securing a comprehensive victory. Green’s century was his first in T20 cricket, and Mumbai Indians kept their hopes alive with this win.