Pace bowlers lasith Malinga and Mitchell McClenaghan came up with stellar bowling display to help Mumbai Indians defend a modest score and beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by 20 runs on Saturday.
Malinga grabbed his season's best four for 23, including three wickets in his last over, while New Zealander Mcclenaghan picked up three for 20 that included top scorer Shikhar Dhawan's scalp, to restrict the Sunrisers to 137 for eight, chasing a target of 158.
Sunrisers lost their way after a brisk opening stand between left-handers Dhawan, who top-scored with 42 off 29 balls, and David Warner (9). Once these two departed within a short span to leave the Sunrisers reeling at 52 for two, the other batsmen did not prove to be good enough.
Earlier, electing to bat, MI rode on opener lendl Simmons's 51 off 42 balls and some useful contributions from skipper Rohit Sharma (24) and West Indian Kieron Pollard (33) to reach a total of 157 for eight. The victory, which was only their second of the season in seven games, helped MI stay afloat in their quest to reach the play-offs. This was Sunrisers fourth defeat in six games.
Chasing the target, the visitors set off to a fine start with Dhawan scoring at a fast pace. From the moment he caressed Harbhajan Singh's first ball of the innings to the cover fence, he looked in fine nick. The left handed Indian opener later struck Harbhajan for three fours and a six in the bowler's second over to banish the offie from the attack.
Then Dhawan departed while pulling Mitchell McClenaghan to short mid-wicket. MI sensed a whiff of a chance with the visitors at 52 for two at the end of powerplay and applied pressure on new batsmen lokesh Rahul and Naman Ojha with some tight bowling and sharp fielding.Ojha fell to the strategy of the Mumbai Indians, as he needlessly gave the charge to left arm spinner and was consumed at long-off.
The going was slow during the next wicket stand between Rahul and Ravi Bopara, both of whom put on just 36 off 37 balls, before the former stepped out to attack McClenaghan and was caught at deep extra cover.
When Rahul's wicket fell, the visitors needed just 54 more runs to win from 31 balls. But they lost Bopara, Hanuma Vihari, Praveen Kumar and Steyn for the addition of just one run to the total, to lose the plot completely. From 126 for four, the Sunrisers were reduced to 127 for eight.
Earlier, electing to bat, Mumbai Indians got off to a steady, if not explosive start, with openers Simmons and Parthiv Patel putting on 42 runs. The partnership was broken when Patel flicked Dale Steyn straight to the deep mid wicket fielder.
Praveen then dismissed Unmukt Chand cheaply. But Simmons, who swung leggie Karn Sharma for a six over mid wicket besides hitting six fours, and captain Rohit Sharma (24) added 51 runs to take the score to 100. MI take on table toppers Rajasthan Royals next on May 1 here, while Sunrisers travel to Mohali to clash with Kings XI Punjab on April 27.
Brief Scores
Mumbai Indians: 157/8 (lendl Simmons 51, Kieron Pollard 33; Bhuvneshwar Kumar 3/24, Praveen Kumar 2/35) beat Sunrisers Hyderabad: 137/8 (Shikhar Dhawan 42; lasith Malinga 4/23, Mitchell Mclenaghan 3/20) by 20 runs .