Fizz stars in Mumbai thrashing

For the first time in the Indian Premier League, Mustafizur Rahman had to wait for nine overs before getting a chance to bowl. It was an odd occurrence, considering that the pacer has been Sunrisers Hyderabad's strike bowler throughout the competition. The 20-year-old is generally given at least one over in the opening powerplay.

However, one can't blame Hyderabad skipper for the change in tactic. Hyderabad might have depended on Mustafizur a number of times in the ongoing Indian Premier League, but yesterday was a tad bit different. Some brilliant bowling from the Hyderabad pacers Ashish Nehra, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and Barinder Sran had reduced the Mumbai Indians to 49 for 6 in nine overs during their chase of 177 at Vishakapatnam.

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By the time Warner gave the ball to Mustafizur, Mumbai were struggling. The only thing the pacer could do was to have a go at the tail and he didn't disappoint.

He sent back Hardik Pandya with his first ball of the game with a cutter that Pandya failed to adjust himself against. Pandya attempted to slice the ball through point but the ball curved away to the hands of the keeper. The umpire judged that out but the replays were inconclusive.

In the very first ball of his second over, he bowled yet another slower delivery that moved away from the batsman and this time got the edge of Tim Southee.

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He returned in the 14th over to get the wicket of Mitchell McClenaghan, who had earlier driven Mustafizur for a boundary in the very first ball of the over. McClenaghan attempted to smack him again in the last ball of the over but misjudged the slower delivery and merely looped it to midwicket.

Eventually Mumbai were bundled out for just 92 in 16.3 overs.

With figures of 3 for 16, Mustafizur recorded his best bowling figures of the tournament and also took his total tally of wickets to 13. He is currently the second highest wicket-taker of the competition, one short of Mitchell McClenaghan.

The 20-year-old though looks extremely capable of topping the charts very soon as he currently has the best bowling average, 15.61 and best economy rate, 6.15, amongst bowlers who have played at least eight matches in the tournament.

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Earlier, brilliant performances from Hyderabad openers, Warner and Shikhar Dhawan helped the team post a powerful 177. Dhawan scored 82 off 57 while Warner smacked 48 off 33. Yuvraj Singh also had a good time with the bat, scoring 39 off 23.

SCORES IN BRIEF

SUNRISERS HYDERABAD: 177 for 3 in 20 overs (Warner 48, Dhawan 82 not out, Yuvraj 39; Harbhajan 2-29)

MUMBAI INDIANS: 92 all out in 16.3 overs (K Pandya 17, Pollard 11, Harbhajan 21 not out; Nehra 3-15, Sran 2-18, Mustafizur 3-16)

Result: Sunrisers Hyderabad won by 85 runs.

Player-of-the-match: Ashish Nehra.

HIGHEST WICKET-TAKERS

Player                           Mat    Wkts    Avg      Econ 
M McClenaghan                    10        14         22.35     8.12
Mustafizur Rahman         9        13      15.61    6.15
Andre Russell                       10         13         17.46      7.82
B Kumar                                 9          13         20.84      7.97
S Watson                               8           12         21.00      8.26