Mumbai, May 21 (IANS) With Mumbai Indians taking on Delhi Capitals in a must-win match on a difficult and sluggish pitch in slightly overcast conditions at the Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday, Suryakumar Yadav did not bat like Suryakumar Yadav in a T20 match.

He stayed till the end, paced his innings perfectly, absorbed the pressure from the spinners in the middle overs, and then went into attack mode in the last two overs to help the team reach what he believed was an “above-par” total. With some glorious shots in the final over, Surya finished unbeaten on 73 off 43 balls, guiding MI to a challenging total.

“This is one innings which I was hoping for a long time: a difficult situation, to bat through to the end. Maybe it (the score) is a little above par. It was a slightly slow wicket with the weather around. We wanted to take it deep and talked about that during the practice sessions. Planned for it and batted accordingly. Waiting gives you a lot of fruits in life, but it feels good inside (while batting),” Suryakumar Yadav told the broadcasters JioStar in the mid-innings break.

Coming in to bat after the Mumbai Indians lost Rohit Sharma, Will Jacks, and Ryan Rickelton early, Suryakumar Yadav took control of the proceedings, curbed his naturally aggressive style, and played the waiting game.

SKY shared two vital half-century partnerships — 55 for the fifth wicket with Tilak Varma (27) and an unfinished 57-run partnership with Naman Dhir (24 not out off 8). He eventually ended with 73 off 43 balls, hitting seven fours and four sixes, ending his knock with a strike rate of 169.76.

In the process, the 34-year-old batter, the captain of India’s T20I team and considered one of the best in the shortest format, equalled the record for the most successive 25+ scores in men’s T20s. Suryakumar now has 13 scores of 25-plus on the trot now, level with Temba Bavuma of South Africa and looks set to set a new record in Mumbai Indians’ next match in IPL 2025.

Known as SKY, the prolific batter felt that it was a defendable score on this pitch. “I have not checked the dew till now, we thought it was a 160-165 wicket. Let’s see – good game on our hands,” he said.

Mumbai Indians need to win this match to seal their place in the playoffs. Even if they lose, they will still have a chance if they beat the Punjab Kings in their next match and hope Delhi Capitals lose to PBKS in their final league match.

–IANS

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