Dhawan, bowlers lead Sunrisers' cruise

HYDERABAD : Sunrisers Hyderabad rode on a counter-attacking second-wicket partnership between Shikhar Dhawan and Moises Henriques to outplay Mumbai Indians and keep their playoff chances alive.

Dhawan and Henriques walloped a stand of 91 that came off just 11 overs as Sunrisers razed a target of 139 with 10 balls to spare and maintained their stronghold at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium with their sixth win in seven matches at the ground.

The win was set up as their bowlers exploited a sluggish pitch to stifle Mumbai. That the visiting team was able to recover to 138 was down to their captain Rohit Sharma, who played an innings of class and poise to give his team a chance.

Sunrisers' position on the table remained unchanged, but they stayed afloat as the race to the playoffs got tighter. The win also brought the curtains down on Delhi Daredevils who do not stand to qualify for the final four anymore.

Sunrisers oscillated between sharp and lax in the early exchanges. Their bowlers made good use of a slow surface where shot-making wasn't at its easiest. Bhuvneshwar Kumar set the tone with a tight first over. And with Mohammad Nabi following suit, it took 10 deliveries for Mumbai to crack. Lendl Simmons lost his middle stump, swinging wildly and missing a quicker, non-turning offbreak from Nabi. Mumbai were 4 for 1 after two overs.

Mohammed Siraj undid some of that good work next over, when Parthiv Patel and Nitish Rana capitalised on poor lines and lengths to punish him for 16. The surge, however, was short-lived. While Nabi got a few to stop and turn, the odd ball kept the pacers interested as well. Siddarth Kaul got a shorter one to hurry on to Rana, who lobbed a catch to mid-off trying to fetch a pull. Kaul's next ball wasn't too dissimilar. This time Parthiv played the line, but couldn't keep the slap down, picking out point where Vijay Shankar let it burst through. Fortunately for Sunrisers, they weren't left to rue the chance, as Kaul took pace off and Parthiv chipped a knuckle ball to long-on two overs later.

took pace off, Rohit picked it early and pierced the cover region; when Henriques banged it in at pace, Rohit calmly opened the face to steer it into the gap.

Rohit stitch together 60 for the fourth wicket, tried to slog his way out and skewed a top-edge to cover. But Rohit continued to pinch singles and find the boundary. By the time he fell, he had struck over 50% of his team's runs. Following his dismissal, Mumbai added just 12 more off 11 balls and lost two wickets.