Mumbai's Smart Bowling and Sticky Pitch Trouble SRH Batters

Mumbai Indians displayed smart planning and excellent execution in their last match against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Although Mumbai have not been the most consistent team since 2023 their home performance has been much improved. In fact they have won the maximum percentage of home matches during this time with 58.8 percent wins. This is superior to powerful teams such as Chennai Super Kings and Gujarat Titans. While most teams are yet to learn about their home conditions Mumbai already appear to know how to make the best use of theirs.

In the SRH match Mumbai Indians bowled first on a sticky pitch that made stroke play challenging. This was the same pitch where they had dismissed KKR for a mere 116 in the first half of the season. Curiously this same pitch was also utilized last season when KKR defended a total of 169 against Mumbai. That was the only instance after 2023 when a team defended a score of less than 200 at the Wankhede Stadium. The Mumbai side was fortunate to win the toss and decide to bowl first before the evening dew settled in and rendered the pitch more suitable for batting. This established them strongly on top and they capitalized on the same with intelligent bowling.

Mumbai's seamers possessed a wise strategy. Rather than maintaining the conventional good length they preferred to bowl full or short with 64 percent of deliveries in these two areas. When they did bowl good length they primarily removed the pace from the ball. This tactic paid off big time on a pitch that had some grip and bounce. Trent Boult persisted with full length deliveries whereas Jasprit Bumrah experimented a bit by sending slow balls as well as yorkers. Hardik Pandya primarily bowled in the middle of the pitch and attempted yorkers in the last over although he missed a couple and the same went for 22 runs.

After the game Hardik Pandya explained that the team observed how the pitch was responding in the initial overs. The balls were getting stuck in the pitch and were making it difficult for the batsmen to play their shots. Therefore, they planned to employ more change of pace balls. Hardik explained that they were sure of the plan and implemented the yorkers intelligently which allowed them to manage the game in the early stages.

Mumbai bowlers played their variations very well. Off pace deliveries were utilized very effectively by them as they bowled 30 in total and cost them only 36 runs and gave them a wicket. Sticky conditions of the pitch and the intelligent usage of the lengths troubled the SRH batters big time. Three of their leading four were unable to even score at a run a ball which indicates how difficult it was for them to get the timing of the ball correct. Heinrich Klaasen who is one of SRH's strongest batsmen managed to reach a strike rate of more than 100 only after he had faced 24 balls which is not a common scene.

Another indicative proof of SRH's woes was the way they handled full tosses. Full tosses normally are simpler to play but out of the first 15 full tosses that they got, they managed only 20 runs. This reflected how much they were missing the ball and how weak their timing was for the majority of the innings.

In contrast to Mumbai’s sharp approach SRH bowlers did not get their lengths right. Only 42 percent of their deliveries were full or short which was much lower than Mumbai’s 64 percent. Their cutters which are slow balls meant to grip the pitch did not work very well. Even though they took three wickets with cutters they also gave away 60 runs in just 33 balls which made it hard to build pressure.

This loss was SRH's seventh loss in their past eight away games which indicates just how hard they struggle playing away from home. Their hopes in the tournament are now very thin as they keep encountering tough challenges. Mumbai, however, appear to have gotten back to form after a sluggish beginning to the season. Most importantly they have unlocked the formula for success at home through intelligent bowling and an effective knowledge of pitch movement.

Mumbai’s use of smart lengths slow balls and good bowling plans made all the difference. The home team showed that knowledge of conditions and clever tactics can win matches even when the pitch is tricky. For SRH this was another tough lesson and they will need to bounce back quickly to stay in the race.