Struck on the head by a Jofra Archer bouncer, the Mumbai batsman was unfazed during the innings.
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Photo: BCCI
Mumbai cricketer Suryakumar Yadav slammed his highest score in the Indian Premier League to help Mumbai Indians trounce Rajasthan Royals at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.
The 30-year-old Suryakumar Yadav, a title-winning captain in T20 Mumbai, scored an unbeaten 79 off just 47 balls at a strike rate of 168 -- aided by 11 fours and two sixes -- to pillar the Mumbai Indians innings. He even suffered a blow to the head from a Jofra Archer bouncer that shook him but hit back by sending the next ball into the stands.
Enroute he recorded his highest score in the IPL, surpassing the 72 he had made in the 2018 edition incidentally against the Rajasthan Royals.
Walking out to bat in the fifth over after MI’s first wicket fell, Suryakumar Yadav made a cautious start managing 12 runs in his first 11 deliveries. However, he soon switched gears to smack Kartik Tyagi for three boundaries in the ninth over.
Mumbai Indians lost three wickets within the span of five overs but Suryakumar Yadav held his nerves to execute clever cuts and powerful sweeps.
.@surya_14kumar is special and very dangerous because he can play on all sides of the wicket.#MIvRR #IPL2020
— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) October 6, 2020
The Mumbai batsman joined hands with Hardik Pandya to keep the scoring rate up and brought up his fifty with a boundary in the 16th over off just 33 balls. Play was held up in the penultimate over when Suryakumar Yadav was struck on the helmet, disorientating the batsman.
But he soon recovered to end the innings with a flourish. Along with Pandya, he forged an unbeaten partnership of 76 runs for the fifth wicket in just 36 balls. Suryakumar Yadav managed to blaze 27 runs off the last nine balls he faced.
“It was all about shotmaking - today his shotmaking was perfect,” observed MI captain Rohit Sharma. “All the innovative shots at the end came in handy.”
Mumbai Indians managed to put up 193 on the scoreboard and went on to win the match by 57 runs.
No prizes for guessing who the Man of the Match is for tonight's game.
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) October 6, 2020
Suryakumar Yadav it is for his match-winning knock of 79*#Dream11IPL #MIvRR pic.twitter.com/9Ob8Xlw2dK
“I believed in myself,” said Suryakumar Yadav, who was named the Man of the Match. “I knew we were three wickets down so I needed to bat till the end.
“Most importantly the thing that satisfies me is the team winning,” he added.
