The Mumbai Indians opener Ryan Rickelton scored a stunning century to light up the Wankhede. The South African looked in fabulous touch right from the first ball and he didn't put a foot wrong. The home side was in desperate need of a victory and he has very well laid the foundation for it with this knock. The intent was clear from the onset and that was to find the boundaries and to stay at the crease for a long haul. He opened along with Will Jacks and they dominated proceedings in the powerplay. Rickelton wasn't very consistent with his scores going into the game but this century would give him a lot of confidence.
The Sunrisers Hyderabad will be disappointed that they couldn't get the centurion out much earlier. The introduction of Nitish Kumar Reddy into the attack did damage as he got rid of Will Jacks. Ryan Rickelton was in good rhythm and he was timing the ball to perfection. With the kind of touch he was in, a big knock was just around the corner and he has finally got to his milestone. The Mumbai Indians still do have some batting to come in the innings and they will be hopeful that they can put on a good total on board to defend against the Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Explosive powerplay start and fearless strokeplay power MI to strong total
Hardik Pandya had won the toss and elected to bat first and they had made a couple of changes to their lineup. Will Jacks and Ryan Rickelton gave the Mumbai Indians a thumping start to the innings as the Sunrisers bowlers couldn’t hold them off. They had some respite in the first over but from then on in, the power play was completely dominated by the Mumbai Indians. Naman Dhir played a relatively slower knock as he couldn’t really get a hold of his innings.
Ryan Rickelton displayed a phenomenal bit of batting prowess as he was smashing the opposition all over the park. He greeted Praful Hinge with a six off the very first ball of the over and he just kept on going at whichever bowler he faced. Mumbai Indians will be happy with the decision that they had made to play Ryan Rickelton ahead of Quinton de Kock. Ryan Rickelton finished on a score of 123 from 55 balls, including 10 fours and 8 sixes, striking at 223.64.
The Mumbai Indians got to a total of 243/5 after 20 overs. The bowlers will have a decent target to bowl at and the form of Trent Boult will be vital in the initial overs. They will have to dismiss Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan as quickly as possible to have the game in control.
