Green evolution

MUMBAI: Cameron Green’s magnificent maiden century (100 not out; 8x4, 8x6) and Rohit Sharma’s half century powered Mumbai Indians to a comprehensive eight-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in its last league match of the IPL here on Sunday.

Mumbai knocked off the target of 201 with 12 balls and eight wickets to spare to accumulate 16 points from 14 matches. With an inferior NRR, MI had the improbable task of scoring 201 in 11.4 overs or 70 balls if it had to get past RCB on the table.

Green smacked eight fours and eight sixes during his unbeaten 100 which came off just 47 balls. He added 53 runs with Suryakumar Yadav (25 not out) for the unbroken third wicket to take MI over the line.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar drew the first blood when he dismissed Ishan Kishan (14) in the third over. Rohit got a lifeline in the fifth over when Sanvir Singh dropped a difficult catch at midwicket off Nitish Kumar Reddy.

But Green provided the impetus, as his four boundaries and a couple of sixes took MI to 60/1 after the powerplay.

While Green brought up his fifty off only 20 balls, in the ninth over, Rohit was off to a modest start, hitting his first six only on the 22nd ball that he faced.

The MI skipper completed his second fifty of this IPL, off 31 balls, and his second-wicket stand with Green took the total past the 100-run mark. Soon after this, Rohit got another reprieve when Sanvir spilled a regulation catch at cover off Kartik Tyagi.

However, a sensational catch from Reddy had Mayank Dagar celebrating Rohit’s wicket wildly in the 14th over. Rohit’s 56 came off 37 balls (8x4, 1x6), having added 128 off 65 balls with Green.

Earlier, unheralded Uttarakhand pacer Akash Madhwal nailed his yorkers consistently at the death as Mumbai restricted Sunrisers to 200 for 5.

With one eye on Bengaluru weather where RCB is taking on Gujarat Titans, Madhwal’s four-wicket haul ensured that SRH ended with at least 15 short of what could be considered a par-score on a flat Wankhede track.

This was after a century opening stand between seasoned opener Mayank Agarwal (83 off 46 balls; 8x4, 4x6) and rookie Vivrant Sharma (69 off 47 balls; 9x4, 2x6) threatened to take the game away.

The pair of Agarwal and Vivrant put on the best opening stand for SRH this season, reaching 53/0 after the powerplay without taking any undue risks, and eventually putting on 140 for the seventh century stand of this IPL.

Brief scores: Sunrisers Hyderabad 200/5 in 20 overs (M Agarwal 83, V Sharma 69, A Madhwal 4/37) lost to Mumbai Indians 201/2 in 18 overs (C Green 100*, R Sharma 56)