IPL 2023: MI beat SRH to register third successive win

Mumbai Indians beat Sunrisers Hyderabad in the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) season at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad. The visitors successfully defended 192/5, with Jason Behrendorff, Riley Meredith, and Piyush Chawla taking two wickets each. Mayank Agarwal's 48-run knock went in vain. A 40-ball 64* from Cameron Green laid the foundation for their win. Notably, MI have won their third successive match.

Rohit and Ishan Kishan came out all guns blazing after SRH elected to field. MI scored 53/1 in the Powerplay. Ishan struck a 31-ball 38 in the first half, while Tilak Varma and Green shared a 56-run stand. Green's exploits powered MI to 192/5 in 20 overs. SRH lost a few early wickets before Mayank regained momentum. SRH were bundled out for 178 (19.5).

Rohit, who slammed a half-century against Delhi Capitals, couldn't capitalize tonight. He smashed an 18-ball 28, a knock laced with 6 fours. However, he managed to unlock a massive achievement. Rohit has become the fourth player to score 6,000 IPL runs. Virat Kohli (6,844), Shikhar Dhawan (6,477), and David Warner (6,109) are the only other players with this feat.

Rohit is the second-fastest to 6,000 IPL runs among Indians in terms of balls. He took 4,616 balls to attain this feat, while Kohli tops the list with 4,595 balls. Dhawan follows Rohit on the list (4,738 balls).

Australian batter Green came out to bat after MI lost skipper Rohit. The former started cautiously and had a defensive approach against the spinners. However, he broke free following an impactful knock from Varma (17-ball 37). Green completed his maiden IPL half-century off 33 balls in the 18th over. He finished with an unbeaten 64 off 40 balls (6 fours, 2 sixes).

SRH skipper Aiden Markram was acrobatic on the field. He took three catches, which sent back Rohit, Ishan, and Suryakumar Yadav. Markram has become the fourth player to take the first three catches in an IPL innings. Kane Richardson (vs SRH, Abu Dhabi, 2014), Hardik Pandya (vs CSK, Chennai, 2015), and Faf du Plessis (vs KKR, Kolkata, 2019) are the others.

Leg-spinner Piyush Chawla contributed to MI's win with two wickets. Although the senior spinner leaked 21 runs in his final over, he removed the dangerous Heinrich Klaasen on the last ball. Chawla has left behind Ravichandran Ashwin (163) to become the fifth-highest wicket-taker in the IPL. The former now has 164 wickets from 170 IPL matches at an average of 27.09.

Arjun Tendulkar was handed the task of defending 20 runs in the final over. And, he nailed it with impeccable yorkers. Arjun dismissed Bhuvneshwar Kumar to claim his maiden IPL wicket. Meanwhile, MI have become the second side after Rajasthan Royals to win three consecutive games in the ongoing season. They have defeated DC, KKR, and SRH on the trot.