Suryakumar Yadav led from the front with an unbeaten 94 (53b, 11x4, 4x6) to keep Mumbai alive in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy as it beat Karnataka by seven wickets in the Super League match on Monday.
Asked to bat first, Karnataka made 171/6 after losing its big stars K.L. Rahul, Manish Pandey and Karun Nair cheaply before Devdutt Padikkal (57, 34b, 4x6, 4x4) and Rohan Kadam (71, 47b, 7x4, 3x6) resurrected the innings with an 80-run partnership for the fourth wicket.
Chasing 172 for victory, openers Prithvi Shaw and Aditya Tare did not waste time in going after the Karnataka pacers Abhimanyu Mithun and Ronit More as Mumbai quickly raced to 43 in the first four overs.
While Tare was dismissed after hitting More for three boundaries in the second over, Shaw made a quickfire 30 (17b, 3x4, 2x6).
Crucial stand
Suryakumar and Shreyas Iyer then put together a crucial 46-run stand for the third wicket that helped Mumbai reach the half-way stage without any further trouble.
Suryakumar let loose in the 10th over of the innings when he went after leg-spinner Pravin Dubey with a six and two fours just after he was dropped by K. Gowtham at mid-wicket when he was on 13.
After Shreyas’s dismissal, Suryakumar and Shivam Dube tackled some good bowling by Karnataka spinners led by Shreyas Gopal, Gowtham and Pavan Deshpande, as Mumbai collected only 31 runs between overs 11 and 15.
Gripping and turning
But it was crucial not to lose a wicket in that phase and the duo waited for the pacers, who were easier to play on a pitch where the ball was gripping and turning.
Suryakumar was calculative in taking on the spinners and brought up his fifty with a six over midwicket off Gowtham’s last over. When Mithun returned for his third over, Suryakumar took him on and hit him for a six and four before he launched into More picking four consecutive boundaries in the 18th over that brought the equation to 16 off the last two.
In the next over from Mithun, a six from Dube and two more boundaries from Suryakumar, saw Mumbai cross the line in 19 overs and keep the interest in the tournament alive till the final day of group matches on Wednesday to decide the top two from Group B.
