Mumbai Indians will leave the UAE shores without a single victory in the first leg of the Indian Premier League as the defending champions slumped to their fifth straight defeat after losing tonight's contest by 15 runs against Sunrisers Hyderabad, here.
Powered by David Warner's fighting 65-run knock and his stellar 111-run partnership with Lokesh Rahul (46), Hyderabad overcame a shaky start to score a competitive 172 for five after being invited to bat.
After losing three quick wickets, Mumbai fought through big-hitting Kieron Pollard (78) and Ambati Rayudu (35 off 27) but all they could manage was 157 for seven in the end.
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The defeat means that Mumbai Indians now need to win most of the nine matches in the Indian leg to make it to the knockout stage of the tournament.
Pollard prevented it from becoming a one-sided match with his scintillating 48-ball knock, embellished with six sixes and three fours.
Irfan Pathan bowled Pollard in the first ball of the final over, in which Mubai needed 20 runs. It was Pollard, who had brought Mumbai this far and his wicket at the crucial juncture dashed hopes of the defending champions.
Bhuvaneshwar Kumar also played a stellar role in Hyderabad's win as he gave away just 17 runs in his four overs and also took two wickets.
Led by a ferocious Dale Steyn, the SRH attack rocked the Mumbai top order by taking three quick wickets. Bhuvaneshwar was incredible in his two-over spell as he conceded just three runs and also got the rival skipper Rohit Sharma (1).
An intimidating Steyn had Corey Anderson (1) caught on a well-directed bouncer. Darren Sammy joined the party by castling opener Ben Dunk (20), reducing Mumbai to 31 for 3 inside powerplay overs.
Pollard and Rayudu brought some respectability to the Mumbai's chase with their fighting knocks. The tall West Indian hit spinner Amit Mishra for two sixes and a four in the 13th over and dispatched Karan Sharma for a humongous hit in the next over to raise hopes of a turnaround.
32 runs in those two overs made it a contest and Mumbai now required 74 runs in 36 balls. Dhawan brought Bhuvaneshwar back into the attack and the paceman continued his with good form, conceding just six runs from his third over.
Pathan broke the stand by dismissing Rayudu but there was no stopping Pollard, who again took Mishra (0/54) to cleaners by hitting him for three consecutive sixes and a four in the 17 over.
Earlier, Warner worked hard for runs initially but once he got his eye in and was settled, the Australian left-hander scored runs at a brisk pace. He hit more sixes (4) than fours (1) in his 51-ball knock before departing towards the end of the SRH innings.
