Malinga claimed important wickets both at the start and at the end of the innings to ensure that Sunrisers fall short chasing 158. PHOTO COURTESY: BCCI
A Lasith Malinga masterclass helped Mumbai Indians defend a 158-run target against Sunrisers Hyderabad in their Indian Premier League match at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai to give the home side a comfortable 20-run win.
The Sri Lankan pacer, who was awarded the man of the match, claimed four wickets and gave away only 23 runs in his four overs to first get rid of the dangerous Hyderabad skipper David Warner and then wrap up the tail in the death overs, taking three wickets in four balls in the penultimate over.
Lendl Simmons’ half-century helped the home side to 157, but they would have been disappointed with the score, especially considering they were 100-2 after 12.2 overs. Bhuvneshwar Kumar was the pick of the bowlers for Sunrisers as he claimed 3-26 in four overs, which also included the wicket of big-hitting Kieron Pollard, who was the second-highest run-getter for the hosts with 33 off 24 balls.
In reply, the visitors started off brightly, making 45 runs without the loss of a wicket in just 4.5 overs. However, it all went downhill from there as Malinga and Kiwi pacer Mitchell McClenaghan — who picked up 3-20 in his four overs — applied the brakes and kept taking wickets at regular intervals to keep the chasers to just 137-8.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 26th, 2015.
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