Shikhar Dhawan was at his elegant best with the Sunrisers Hyderabad bowlers yet again coming to the fore in a comfortable seven-wicket win over the Mumbai Indians in their IPL 2013 game at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.
Dhawan led the Sunrisers chase of 130 brilliantly -- after the Mumbai Indians could only manage 129 for four, thanks to some brilliant bowling from the home side -- scoring an unbeaten 73 in 55 balls, as the Hyderabad franchise cruised to the target with two overs remaining.
Sunrisers continue their impressive IPL 2013, winning their sixth game in ten and with it snapping a two-game losing streak. They have the same record as the Mumbai Indians, who are only above them in fourth thanks to a superior net run rate, after losing their first match in four.
The Sunrisers have looked a better batting unit ever since the return of Dhawan from injury, and the left-hander anchored the innings well, despite a couple of early wickets.
Akshath Reddy fell in the third over, gifting a catch to Dwayne Smith at cover after failing to read a slower delivery from Mitchell Johnson.
Kumar Sangakkara, off colour all tournament, looked good during his stay at the crease, caressing Harbhajan Singh for a couple of nice-looking boundaries, before inexplicably giving away his wicket to the same bowler.
It was the softest of dismissals, as Sangakkara (21, 21b, 3x4) just drove an ordinary delivery straight back to Harbhajan, who gleefully accepted the gift.
Hanuma Vihari, who played a couple of decent innings early in the tournament, came in and gave good company to Dhawan as the Sunrisers edged closer to the total.
Some of the shots through the offside from Dhawan was pure joy, as the packed home crowd were treated to some glorious batting from the left-hander.
Vihari (25, 23b, 2x4) and Dhawan allied for an impressive 74 runs from 9.2 overs, with the former playing a key role, before throwing away his wicket right at the end.
Dhawan (73, 55b, 9x4, 1x6), though, was calmness and brilliance personified, hitting the winning run in the final ball of the 18th over to guide his team to a convincing win.
Earlier, there was to be no final overs bashing from the Mumbai Indians, as the innings failed to gather momentum, with the Sunrisers bowlers doing a really good job yet again.
The main reason for the Sunrisers' strong position in the points table has been the form of their bowlers, led by Dale Steyn, and they stood up tall yet again, restricting the much-vaunted Mumbai batting lineup to a sub-par score.
Sachin Tendulkar, like he has done so often in IPL 2013, threatened to catch fire, before yet again failing to make good on a couple of promising shots. His 12-ball 14-run stay was ended by Ishant Sharma, who found a way through the Indian legend's defence.
Dinesh Karthik followed suit two balls later for a duck, finding Karan Sharma at point off Ishant, who finished with brilliant figures of 4-1-15-2.
Dwayne Smith and Rohit Sharma put together a 42-run partnership at just under a run a ball, creating the platform for the likes of Pollard and Sharma himself to tee off in the final overs.
Sharma (22, 22b, 2x4), though, was the third Mumbai Indians wicket, holing out to Ishant at long-off off Amit Mishra, while looking to accelerate. Smith (38, 40, 3x4, 2x6) lasted only three more balls, as Mishra picked up his second wicket of the over, with the umpire giving the West Indian out lbw, although replays showed the ball struck the glove before rapping the pads.
At 80 for four in 13 overs, the stage was set for Pollard (14, 19b, 1x4), in the company of Ambati Rayudu, to pick off the Sunrisers bowling and push Mumbai to a big total.
However, the home side just kept on finding the full-length deliveries, restricting the big shots from the big West Indian.
Only 49 runs were scored from the last seven overs, and that is mainly thanks to the 16 runs, which came off the final over from Thisara Perera, thanks to three boundaries from the blade of Rayudu (34, 27b, 4x4).
