Sunrisers miscalculate against Markande
At 56 for 0 after six overs chasing 148, Sunrisers Hyderabad looked like they would coast to victory. They had no reason to attack young legspinner Mayank Markande. Their own leggie, Rashid Khan, had conceded 13 runs in his four overs but had taken just one wicket because the Mumbai Indians batsmen chose to play him out, attempting only four attacking shots in his four overs.
Sunrisers adopted a different strategy against Markande. They attempted four attacking shots off his first five balls, and the fourth of these saw Wriddhiman Saha out lbw while well down the wicket. Surprisingly, the rest of the batsmen continued to attack Markande, and in total Sunrisers attempted 11 attacking shots off him. Shikhar Dhawan and Manish Pandey both fell playing big shots and let Mumbai back into the game.
Mumbai outfield Sunrisers
Sunrisers had kept Mumbai to a low total thanks to some clinical bowling by an experienced Twenty20 attack, but their fielders did not match those efforts. Two simple catches were put down. In contrast, Mumbai Indians held some tough chances. Jasprit Bumrah judged a skier from Dhawan perfectly, and then Rohit Sharma pulled off a stunner when Markande left a similar skier to him. Ben Cutting saved five runs when he plucked a Yusuf Pathan lofted drive out of the air at long-on and threw it back in before going over the rope. And in the final over, Kieron Pollard kept Deepak Hooda down to a single off the third legitimate delivery with some sharp work at long-off. That gave Mumbai a crack at the No.11, Billy Stanlake, but they couldn't seal the win.
Mumbai's Cutting risk doesn't pay off
Mumbai left out Mitchell McClenaghan for Ben Cutting, hoping Cutting's experience of playing for Sunrisers would help him on the Hyderabad pitch. Rohit bowled out death specialists Jasprit Bumrah and Mustafizur Rahman before the final over in an attempt to take wickets and bring Mumbai back into the game. It worked, and Cutting was left with 11 to defend off the 20th over, but more importantly just one wicket to take. He could not hold his nerve. He started with a full toss, which Deepak Hooda hit for six, then bowled a wide, and attempted slower balls when No.11 Stanlake was on strike, conceding a single and a four. With McClenaghan leaking runs in their first game, Mumbai are still looking for a third seamer to support Bumrah and Mustafizur.