HYDERABAD: Star batsman Rohit Sharma smashed 76 and pace bowler Trent Boult claimed 4-26 as Mumbai Indians thrashed Sunrisers Hyderabad to move up to third in the IPL table on Wednesday.
New Zealand’s Boult, a left-arm quick, and fellow pace bowler Deepak Chahar ripped apart the top of Hyderabad’s batting order as they collapsed to 35-5 before managing 143-8.
Five-time champions Mumbai achieved their target with 26 balls and seven wickets to spare after Rohit registered his second successive half-century, smacking eight fours and three sixes in his 46-ball knock to lead the chase.
But the 35-year-old Boult set up victory with his two early wickets and was named player of the match.
“I still love the feeling of competing and getting wickets,” said Boult, who retired from international cricket in 2024.
“It’s a huge tournament, there are hundreds of thousands of bowlers who’d love to do what we’re doing so it’s about not taking it for granted.”
It was Mumbai’s fourth straight win and a victory that propelled them three spots from sixth in the 10-team table led by Gujarat Titans.
Hyderabad, who are captained by Australia’s Pat Cummins, slumped to their sixth loss in eight matches.
“We have a few away games now, it will be about assessing each wicket as quickly as possible,” said Cummins. “Some days it will be all-out attack, some days it will be about weighing our options.”
Rohit and England’s Will Jacks (22) laid the platform for Mumbai in their second-wicket partnership of 64.
Jacks got out but Rohit stood firm to raise his fifty in an another key stand of 53 with Suryakumar Yadav, who made an unbeaten 40 off 19 balls.
The match began with a tribute to the victims of the deadly attack in Kashmir as a minute’s silence was observed and teams wore black armbands in Hyderabad.
Twenty-six men — all Indian except one Nepali — were killed on Tuesday when gunmen burst out of forests at a popular tourist spot in Pahalgam and raked crowds of visitors with automatic weapons.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) took the decision to remove the cheerleaders and put a halt to the celebratory fireworks and music customary at IPL matches, as a mark of respect for the victims.
Boult got Mumbai off to a perfect start by dismissing Australian opener Travis Head for a duck after the left-hander mis-timed a shot to deep backward point.
Chahar had Ishan Kishan caught behind for one in the next over, the batter walking off to a timid appeal with ultra-edge technology later suggesting there was no edge.
Boult and Chahar continued to do damage and accounted for Abhishek Sharma and Nitish Reddy, leaving Hyderabad five down when skipper Hardik Pandya struck in the ninth over.
South Africa’s Heinrich Klaasen hit a 44-ball 71 as he counter-attacked with a string of boundaries and put on 99 runs with impact substitute Abhinav Manohar (43), but the effort was not enough against a rampaging Mumbai.
Klaasen finally became pace bowler Jasprit Bumrah’s 300th T20 wicket when he was caught at deep backward square.
Boult finished with two wickets in the 20th over.
Rohit, Boult star as Mumbai surge into IPL top four
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Rohit, Boult star as Mumbai surge into IPL top four
- Trent Boult, a left-arm quick, and fellow pace bowler Deepak Chahar ripped apart the top of Hyderabad’s batting order as they collapsed to 35-5 before managing 143-8
- Five-time champions Mumbai achieved their target with 26 balls and seven wickets to spare after Rohit registered his second successive half-century
Benzema grabs hat-trick on Al-Hilal debut as Blues cruise to victory over Al-Okhdood
RIYADH: Karim Benzema had a debut to remember on Thursday, just days after completing a blockbuster move to Al-Hilal from Al-Ittihad.
The Frenchman, who had scored eight goals for his former side this season, took his tally to 11 as he grabbed a hat-trick against home side Al-Okhdood.
Benzema, wearing the No. 90 jersey, led the line in Najran as Al-Hilal sought to hit the 50-point mark in the Saudi Pro League and maintain their lead at the top. With Al-Ahli just three points behind and playing at the same time against Al-Hazem, victory was imperative.
Flanked by Malcom and Salem Al-Dawsari, Benzema enjoyed a comfortable first outing with the Blues. As he dropped deep to overload the midfield and drifted intelligently between attacking channels, a goal on his debut always felt inevitable.
After a goal resulting from slick combination between Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Al-Dawsari was ruled out because of a foul by Ali Lajami in the build-up, the game remained goalless in the opening half hour.
But then Benzema, targeting the same channels as Milinkovic-Savic and Al-Dawsari, dropped deep to initiate a move before advancing into the six-yard box to backheel the opener in the 31st minute.
Fifteen minutes after the break, Kalidou Koulibaly won possession high up the pitch before releasing Malcom into space, who squared for Benzema to tap home his second.
Al-Dawsari created Benzema’s third just three minutes later, after Milinkovic-Savic carried the ball toward the box and gave the winger a chance to pick out Benzema with a low cross.
Pundits on official broadcaster Thmanyah highlighted the role Benzema was playing in helping Al-Hilal diversify their attacking play. With the trio of Malcom, Milinkovic-Savic and Al-Dawsari missing a consistent, clinical striker to provide for until now — 10 players in the league have scored more goals than Al-Hilal’s top scorer Marcos Leonardo — Benzema provided the final piece of the puzzle and completed it with full marks on his first appearance.
With the clock ticking down, Al-Hilal capitalized as Al-Okhdood tired, and Malcom grabbed his side’s fourth goal in the 70th minute, before Al-Dawsari added a brace to complete an emphatic 6-0 rout.
Over in Jeddah, Al-Ahli faced a visiting Al-Hazem side led by the last striker to guide the Greens to a league title, Omar Al-Somah. The Syrian striker failed to make much of an an impact on his return to Al-Inma Stadium, however.
After a difficult first half against resilient opponents, Ivan Toney finally broke the deadlock in the 58th minute to extend his tally at the top of the Pro League goal-scoring chart to 19. It came when veteran keeper Ibrahim Zaid, deputizing in goal for Bruno Varela who was forced off in the 33rd minute due to injury, spilled a corner, allowing Toney to pounce and tap in from close range.
Any hope of a comeback was extinguished in the 76th minute when Sultan Tanker bundled the ball into his own net following a low cross from Mohammed Abdulrahman.
Earlier, Al-Fayha defeated Al-Najma 3-0 at home to move ahead of Al-Hazem into 11th place in the league. The visitors continue to endure the worst start to a season in Pro League history, becoming the first team to go 20 matches without a victory.
On Friday, NEOM host Al-Riyadh at 5:25 p.m. and Al-Ettifaq face visitors Damac at 6 p.m., before the weekend’s blockbuster match-up as Al-Nassr host Al-Ittihad at 8:30 p.m.
