NEW DELHI: The iconic Wankhede Stadium was ablaze with Suryakumar Yadav's exceptional performance. Playing on his home turf, Suryakumar thrilled the crowd with a majestic innings, smashing an unbeaten 102 to propel Mumbai Indians to a dominant seven-wicket victory over Pat Cummins-led Sunrisers Hyderabad, dealing a blow to their playoff hopes.
Mumbai Indians were chasing 174 for the win and stumbled to 31-3, but Suryakumar stitched an unbroken partnership of 143 with Tilak Varma, reaching the target with 16 balls to spare.
After guiding the five-time champions to a convincing victory, Suryakumar, who sealed the win with a six that also completed his second IPL century in 51 balls, said he relished his time at the crease. His performance comes well for India ahead of the T20 World Cup in June in the West Indies and the United States.
"I have done this after a long time. I fielded for 20 overs and batted for 18 overs, only tired (nothing else to worry about.) I feel it was the need of the hour for me," Suryakumar said at the post-match presentation.
"I went out to bat, needed someone to bat till the end. I just enjoyed my time. It's from the Mumbai school of arts, have played a lot of cricket at Wankhede. When the ball stopped seaming, I played all my shots that I practice in the nets. I feel the intent would have been the same, I would have definitely played in the same pattern," the dashing right-hander said.
However, the win for five-time winners Mumbai Indians, placed ninth in the 10-team points table, could be late in a tournament fast moving towards its business end.
