Will Jacks delivers Mumbai gritty home win as SRH return to ‘losing ways’

Sunrisers Hyderabad's season looked set for a U-turn after a big win in the last match (against Punjab Kings) that ended a run of four defeats in a row. But Mumbai Indians dealt them a fifth defeat of the season in a low-scoring match in the IPL at the Wankhede on Thursday.

Will Jacks bagged two wickets and scored 36 as MI defeated SRH by four wickets. Had skipper Hardik Pandya (21) and Naman Dhir (0 off 3) not thrown away their wickets with just one more run needed, the victory would have been sweeter for the home supporters.

SRH skipper Pat Cummins was impressive with 3/26 from his four overs, but the rest of the bowling unit did not complement his efforts. Eshan Malinga finished with 2/36 (Hardik and Naman).

Rohit Sharma, who once again came on as an impact sub, looked promising, hitting three sixes, but fell for 26, while fellow opener Ryan Rickelton added 31.

The MI innings had eight sixes, while SRH, for all their power batting, could only manage five, all of which came in the last three overs.

Opener Abhishek Sharma couldn't replicate his monster innings (141 off 55) against the Punjab Kings, but the left-hander still top scored with 40 off 28. His 59-run stand with Travis Head (28) laid the foundation, but the rest of the Sunrisers batters could not bat as freely.

Credit to the MI bowlers, who managed to keep the run rate in check with disciplined bowling. Veteran leg spinner Karn Sharma retained his spot but was unused. He sustained a cut on his hand while fielding in the powerplay.

English off-spinner Jacks deftly handled the middle overs and was rewarded with two wickets (Head and Ishan Kishan). He finished with 2/14 from his three overs, while Jasprit Bumrah showed that he was getting back to his best after a lengthy injury layoff, with 1/21 from his four. The Indian ace bowled a tidy 19th over that went for just four singles and got him the prized wicket of Heinrich Klaasen (37). Besides Klaasen, who hit two sixes in his 28-ball innings, Aniket Verma (18) and Pat Cummins (8) hit the other three.

The hosts left out Kerala left-arm spinner Vignesh Puthur for a second match in a row. Vignesh was not part of MI's last match against Delhi Capitals, which they won by 12 runs. Karn Sharma bagged 3/36 in that match, but he could not bowl tonight due to an injury sustained while fielding in the third over.

Brief scores: SRH 162/5 in 20 overs (Abhishek Sharma 40, Heinrich Klaasen 37, Travis Head 28, Will Jacks 2/14) lost to MI 166/6 in 18.1 overs (Will Jacks 36, Ryan Rickelton 31, Rohit Sharma 26, Suryakumar Yadav 26, Pat Cummins 3/26, Eshan Malinga 2/36)