Suryakumar Yadav hit an unbeaten 102 to lead the Mumbai Indians to a crushing seven-wicket win over the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL on Monday.
Chasing 174 for victory, Mumbai slipped to 31-3 before Suryakumar put on an unbeaten stand of 143 with Tilak Varma to achieve the target with 16 balls to spare at their home Wankhede Stadium.
Suryakumar hit the winning six, which also raised his second IPL ton in 51 balls and comes as a welcome sign for India ahead of the T20 World Cup in June in the West Indies and USA.
However the win for five-time winners Mumbai, placed ninth in the 10-team table, could be late in a tournament fast moving towards its business end.
Hyderabad, led by Pat Cummins, stay fourth in the table but their fifth loss and a big one could hurt their playoff chances.
Hyderabad need to win two of their remaining three matches to make the playoffs as they remain locked at 12 points with the third-placed Chennai Super Kings and the Lucknow Super Giants at fifth.
The top four teams will make the playoffs with the final on 26 May in Chennai.
Former champions Hyderabad posted 173-8 courtesy of Travis Head’s 48 and an unbeaten 17-ball 35 by lower-order batsman Cummins after being invited to bat first.
The left-handed Head gave the team a brisk start with his 30-ball knock before his departure in the 11th over and Hyderabad lost their way with regular wickets, including Heinrich Klaasen for two.
Captain Hardik Pandya spinner Piyush Chawla took three wickets each to rattle the opposition middle and lower-order as Hyderabad slipped to 136-8 in 17 overs.
But No 9 Cummins had other ideas as the Australian Test and ODI captain hit back in the final three overs and put on an unbeaten stand of 37 off 19 balls with Sanvir Singh.
The batting effort inspired the team and fast bowlers came roaring to reduce Mumbai to 31-3 including the key wicket of Rohit Sharma, out caught behind for four off Cummins.
Suryakumar soon took charge with his attacking batting as he raised his 50 in 30 balls and hammered the opposition bowling with 12 fours and six sixes.
The left-handed Varma made 37 and enjoyed Suryakumar’s blitz from the other end.
© Agence France-Presse
Photo: BCCI
