Put in to bat by SunRisers Hyderabad, who were desperate for a victory to seal their spot in the playoffs, Mumbai Indians got off to a rocky start when seamer Sandeep Sharma dismissed Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock in a matter of two overs.
Then walked in Suryakumar Yadav, MI's in-form batsman at number 3.
Surya looked in sublime form and gave us a glimpse of what to expect as he got off the mark with a boundary through covers. He scored all around the wicket. His timing was exquisite and he punished the bad balls that came his way. He also found the gaps easily for the singles and twos.
Surya looked good for another big innings until Shahbaz Nadeem decided it was his time to strike.
The left-arm spinner bowled around the wicket to Surya, darted it in wide, invited the batsman to go after it. Surya got a big stride in, missed it and Wriddhiman Saha whiped the bails off.
Replays showed Surya's foot was nowhere inside the crease. Just when he was beginning to get a footing, the MI mainstay was back in the hut.
Nadeem was in action again in the same over. Krunal Pandya's stay lasted just three balls as he was caught at mid-wicket by Kane Williamson for a duck.
This double strike in the 12th over cost Mumbai dearly. Even though Ishan Kishan and Kieron Pollard got the odd boundaries in, MI were restricted to singles and twos and eventually all they could muster was 149 for 8.
Surya has been a standout performer for Mumbai this season too -- Mark Nicholas, the former English county cricketer and astute commentator, told Surya before the game that the Mumbaikar was one of the IPL players he had been talking about to folks back in England -- and had he stayed at the crease longer, the scoreboard would have read different.
Krunal's runs are worth their value in gold. A bowling all-rounder, Krunal can be a destructive batsman on his day, and he has turned matches Mumbai's way with his big hitting and thoughtful batting.
Nadeem's strikes put pressure on Pollard and Kishan who had to rebuild again and some lusty blows in the end, helped Mumbai get to 149, a target easily overhauled by SRH.
