Cameron Green's unbeaten century has kept the Mumbai Indians in contention for a playoff spot as they beat the SunRisers Hyderabad by eight wickets in match 69 of IPL 2023 at the Wankhede Stadium. Green reached the magical three-figure mark in the final ball of the innings, with the hosts winning by eight wickets.
Vivrant Sharma and Mayank Agarwal put on a century stand:
Having put the SunRisers into bat, their openers made a merry of the pitch as the pair struck fifties. While Vivrant Sharma got to his fifty in the tenth over, Agarwal got their three overs later with a boundary off Jason Behrendorff.
Akash Madhwal spearheaded the home side's comeback by forcing Vivrant to hole out for 69 to deep mid-wicket to break the 140-run partnership. The right-arm pacer returned and dismissed Agarwal for 83 in his next as the opener edged one to Ishan Kishan behind the stumps. Madhwal's final over was a game-changer as he claimed Heinrich Klaasen and Harry Brook in successive deliveries. Aiden Markram's last-ball six ensured that the Orange Brigade reached the 200-run mark.
Cameron Green takes matters into his own hands:
With Mumbai Indians losing Ishan Kishan within the powerplay for a low-score, Green provided the required impetus in the chase. The Australian all-rounder opened his account with a boundary and carted all the RCB bowlers around the park.
Green brought a fifty-run stand between him and Rohit Sharma in the seventh over of the run-chase and reached his half-century off 20 balls with a slog sweep in the ninth over. By this time, the youngster had struck four fours and five sixes.
Rohit Sharma finally finds his footing:
At the other end, Rohit Sharma, who got a reprieve in the fifth over, took on Umran Malik to the cleaners in the 11th over with consecutive boundaries. The third boundary also meant that he completed 11000 T20 runs. The Mumbai Indians captain received another lifeline as Sanvir Singh spilled a relatively simple take this time, denying Kartik Tyagi a wicket after getting to only his second fifty of the season.
However, the 14th over of the innings spelt his end when Nitish Reddy flew himself to the right to take an outstanding catch. Despite his exit, Green kept going and completed the remaining formalities, including scoring a hundred with two overs to spare. With that win, the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) also have a clear target in their minds.
