The defending champions, SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) defeated table-toppers Mumbai Indians (MI) by 7 wickets in the 48th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium, in Hyderabad on Monday.

Brilliant Shikhar Dhawan and Siddarth Kaul propelled the defending champions SRH to a crucial win. The Mumbai Indians had already qualified for the playoffs, and skipper Rohit Sharma decided to use this opportunity to experiment a bit, as he opted to bat first after winning the toss.

The supporters of MI, would have instantly regretted this decision, as SRH’s Afghan spin duo Mohammad Nabi (1-13) and Rashid Khan (1-22) stemmed the flow of runs early on in the innings.

Despite the fact that Rohit stuck around, scoring a blistering 67 off 45 balls, MI were stifled very well at the other end, where Siddarth Kaul kept picking up the important wickets; he even got Rohit out towards the death overs of the innings.

The visitors ambled on in the death overs, to finish with a modest total of 138 for 7. After the SRH restricted Mumbai to 138/7, Shikhar Dhawan and Moises Henriques put up a brilliant partnership to chase down the modest target as Hyderabad won in 18.2 overs.

After losing captain David Warner early, Dhawan and Henriques stabilized the innings in the first six overs of powerplay, before the Australian was dismissed for 44. Henriques was unlucky not to have scored his half century, as he misread a Bumrah cutter, but Dhawan stuck through to the end, to score an unbeaten 62 from 46 balls, to guide his side to a comfortable, and very important win. Dhawan went on to score his 28th IPL half century in the match. Though this win does not guarantee Hyderabad a place in the Play-offs, it puts Delhi Daredevils out of the reckoning.

Earlier Rohit Sharma hit his 32nd IPL half ton to steady Mumbai as they lost wickets at regular intervals to a disciplined Hyderabad bowling attack.

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