The Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi saw 428 runs being scored in 40 overs on Friday as Mumbai Indians and Sunrisers Hyderabad put up a run fest. Double defending champions, Mumbai, emerged victorious by 42 runs but failed to qualify for the playoffs, falling short to Kolkata Knight Riders on net run rate. 

Mumbai Indians scored a mammoth 235 runs in the first innings. Ishan Kishan smashed 84 off 32 balls and Suryakumar Yadav 82 off 40 balls. Chasing the target, Sunrisers could manage 193 runs in 20 overs. MI, who had to seal the win by 171 runs or more to leapfrog KKR on the points table and qualify for the play-offs, could not restrict SRH to 65 runs. 

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It is for the first time in three seasons that five-time champions MI have not entered the last four after lifting the trophy in the past two editions.

Chasing the massive total, SRH openers Jason Roy (34 off 21) and Abhishek Sharma (33 off 16) got the team off to a flier, stitching 64 runs in 5.2 overs. However, Mumbai came back in the game with Boult first getting rid of Roy and then Jimmy Neesham striking twice in one over. Hyderabad, at one point, were reduced to 100/4 in 9.1 overs. 

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However, their skipper Manish Pandey (69 off 41; 7x4s, 2x6s) and Priyan Garg (29) shared 56 runs for the fifth wicket before Jasprit Bumrah dislodged the stand.

Pandey played a captain’s knock and kept SRH in the hunt, albeit mathematically, reaching his 50 off 30 balls.

It was always going to be an uphill task for SRH to get 70 runs off 24 balls and it turned out to be so with Pandey remaining unbeaten.

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 “It was really hot, and it was an intense 20 overs. My calves are a bit cramped. I think the surface was the best of the tournament. We knew MI would come hard at us and they did. Our fast bowlers gave away a few extra runs that cost us in the end, but this was the best pitch of the tournament. We had a lot of changes in the side, that didn’t work for us. We were struggling in the first few games too, and had to pull ourselves up in the second leg but the whole team didn’t put in complete performances, despite some really good individual performances,” Manish Pandey said after the match. 

Delhi Capitals and Chennai Super Kings will face each other in the Qualifier 1 on Sunday, while KKR will be up against Royal Challengers Bangalore in the eliminator on October 11.