Mumbai Indians qualified for the IPL play-offs with a crushing nine-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Parthiv Patel hit a flawless 51 not out from 37 deliveries to back up an outstanding display from the Mumbai bowlers with Mitchell McClenaghan (three for 16) and Lasith Malinga (two for 17) impressing in particular.
The Sunrisers made a horrible start when Shikhar Dhawan missed a fine, fast yorker from Malinga and was bowled for one off the final ball of the first over. Then David Warner top-edged a pull off McClenaghan’s first ball of the second, leaving them seven for two.
On a seam-friendly pitch, with the bowlers finding movement later into the innings than usual, mere survival took precedence over run scoring. Eoin Morgan managed neither, falling to McClenaghan for nine as Sunrisers only made 29 for three from the six powerplay overs.
Moises Henriques and KL Rahul were watchful in trying to rebuild the innings but the Australian was stumped in ungainly fashion off Jagadeesha Suchith for 11 from 19 balls, then Naman Ojha chipped the next ball meekly to mid-off for a golden duck.
Rahul, the only batsman to look in any kind of form, chopped on trying to cut Harbhajan; his 25 from 24 balls was the closest thing the top order found to a fluent innings. His wicket made it 61 for six and it was only a pocketful of lusty late hits from Dale Steyn that helped the Sunrisers crawl into three figures.
Mumbai’s Lendl Simmons narrowly failed to finish the job, cutting to backward point for a 44-ball 48 with only eight runs needed. Rohit Sharma, at No3, slogged his first ball for six before Patel administered the final touch.
