Live Cricket Score: MI vs SRH, Match 9, IPL 2021

Hardik Pandya on being asked if his direct-hits have come years and years of practice -- "Not really". How's that for swagger! Hope you enjoyed reading this and until next time, ta ta!!

Just to put things into context, SRH's collapse has been 70 runs | 10 wickets. The difference between the two teams though was 13 runs, which to be fair has to be credited to those two sixes that Pollard hit to close out Mumbai's innings. But that's what this Mumbai side has become, a brutal steamrolling machine, winning from anywhere, anytime.

SRH Choke. Again.It's not as bad as what they've done over the last two games, but still, a choke is a choke.

Samad's gone. Rashid's gone. And the last hope that remained, Shankar's gone too. Who's the star you ask? Jazzy B -- 4-0-14-1. If only there was a Man of the Match for non-stat-based performances. He's bowled the absolute terror overs, two in the powerplay, two at the death.

From collapse, to stagnation, to redemption!It's Vijay Shankar who's taken it upon himself here to get SRH home. Krunal Pandya's the one taking the beating here, getting smashed for two sixes, and the asking rate falls from the nines to the sevens ..

Suddenly, just like that, don't ask how, the equation has gone to 49 runs in 36 balls. Again, seriously, don't ask how!

Warner run out (Hardik Pandya) 36(34) ..it's getting eerily similar!

None of Manish Pandey's 30+-ball vigils tonight, Rahul Chahar's sent him back in his first over itself. Meanwhile, Warner has in fact stepped things up. He really looks in the mood, that concentration, that grit, that need to finish it himself.

So practically, there was no way some bowler was normally getting Bairstow out tonight in this mood. Run-out was an option, but Mumbai have been really sloppy in the field. Hit-wicket was the other option. And you better believe it, he's stepped onto his stumps while trying to pull a Krunal Pandya half-tracker. Mumbai get a massive life ..

It's quite what Mumbai did in their powerplay, although the way Hyderabad have done it looks particularly brutal. Anyway, 56/0. And Mumbai have the two Bumrah overs to thank, that have gone for only 5 runs combined. All the punishment's been reserved for the others.

Okay, Jonny Bairstow has gone nuts. He's smashing them all around for fun. Boult. Milne. Chahar. Everyone being smoked to every possible corner. Mind you Warner's very quiet and possibly scratchy at the other end, but really, nobody's even noticed him. It's all about Jonny!

****

In Vijay Shankar's words, "this is the best pitch in the three games he's played so far". Hang around, the second half promises to be a proper thriller.

Huff. Puff. Six. Six. 150 .. thanks to those last two balls getting smashed big, Kieron Pollard has helped Mumbai touch 150. It was a strange li'l innings, from a stage where 180 looked within reach in the powerplay, to where 140 could've been possible, to ending up with 150.

It was a struggle. A proper, painstaking struggle. Ishan Kishan -- 21 balls | 12 runs | 9 dots. Mujeeb puts and end to his misery, with a half-tracker down leg, and given how lost Kishan's looked, he's found a way to tickle that to the keeper.

Rashid Khan -- 4-0-22-0.#JustRashidThings. Clearly Pollard has come out with a one-track mind, of playing him out.

Here comes the strangle .. from a blazing start to some really struggling middle-overs, this Mumbai innings has turned around rather quickly. And it's SRH's spinners who've spun their web -- with Ishan Kishan really struggling at one end. And Quinton de Kock looking to break the shackles, only to miscue Mujeeb while look to go big.

And one brings the other. Suryakumar Yadav, after smoking a massive six, gets foxed by the lack of pace on the very next ball. Yea, they're clawing back here, and clawing back properly. Remember the tryst with Mumbai and collapses in this IPL?

When in doubt, turn to your part-timer. It's an age-old rule in cricket that's been passed down the generations. So Warner goes to Vijay Shankar, who's slow innocuous length deliveries tempts Rohit to slog, mistime, and hole out in the deep. It's a massive breather ..

Powerplay - done. Warner has shuffled his bowlers all around, trying out different ends, different options, and without any risk, Mumbai are at 53/0.

STAT TIME -- Rohit Sharma, in the first four overs in the day, has already hit a couple of sixes, and now has becomes the highest-six-hitter among Indians in the IPL. They don't call him Hitman for nothing!

We're live. And how do we start? With a proper full-faced punch straight down the ground and into the boundary, courtesy Quinton. First impressions: This does look a slightly better pitch for a batsman.

****

Sunrisers Hyderabad (Playing XI): David Warner(c), Jonny Bairstow(w), Manish Pandey, Virat Singh, Vijay Shankar, Abhishek Sharma, Abdul Samad, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Khaleel Ahmed

Mumbai Indians (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Quinton de Kock(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Rahul Chahar, Adam Milne, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult

Now Mumbai and Chennai are master player-backers, but if there's a team that comes next on that list, it's Hyderabad. But no, not tonight. Apparently two losses have hurt and worried them enough to make as many as four changes. Go, figure ..

Surprise, surprise. Mumbai Indians opt to bat!

So while you stay confused about Kane Williamson's fitness, or about Manish Pandey's strike-rates, here's the preview for help. Here's an explainer as to why Hyderabad have been messing up at the end. And here are the bbb comms.

Match #9: Hello. It's a battle of the pre-tournament favourites. Mumbai, coming off a coming-back-from-the-dead victory against KKR, and SRH, choking from a in-the-pocket match against RCB. Confused? Well, the real confusion that you have to deal with is the toss. Common sense and the trend of T20s dictates that you bowl first. But Chepauk, this sluggish pitch, and this three-match collapsing history, is bound to mess around with your head. Surely when you're SRH and you've thrown away chases that were clearly in the pocket. Mumbai, well, they've never had a bowler take a fifer against them in 13 years, and suddenly, have gifted two fifers in their two matches. It's precisely what should make tonight fun ..