Champions League SRL | Notts vs Mumbai Evaluation Chart - Notts run riot as MI slump to third consecutive defeat

ByAnirudh Suresh, SportsCafe Editor

05/16/2020

Mumbai Indians were handed their third straight defeat in the Champions League SRL as a rampant Notts side ravaged the Blues’ bowlers to power towards a 57-run thrashing. In what was an exhibition of T20 hitting, Notts hit 13 SIXES to post a mammoth score of 221, before restricting MI to just 164.

Match Review

Notts’ innings today could be split into three phases - the flying start, followed by a somewhat dull phase in the middle and finally the outrageous end, which perhaps is the craziest five-over phae witnessed in SRL History. After being put into bat, the duo of Alex Hales and Joe Clarke gave a fine start, racing off to 60 in the powerplay, but at that point, little did MI know what was about to hit them. After a consolidating period in the middle, which saw both Duckett and Moores chip in with valuable contributions, Samit Patel and Steven Mullaney absolutely teed off towards the end as Notts hit a staggering 99 runs off their last six overs to post a gargantuan 221 on the board.

Mumbai are just the kind of team that loves a big chase, especially with the power hitting prowess they have at their disposal, but from the very first over today - where they scored just 2 - it looked evident that the Blues were not going to chase the target down. Mumbai’s top three of Rohit, de Kock and Lynn were sent back to the hut within the fourth over and even before the field restrictions were lifted, it looked like the game had a Notts win written all over it. A fine 71-run partnership between Pollard and Suryakumar Yadav ensued in the middle, but that turned out to be negligible in their quest of 222 as Rohit’s men slipped to a 57-run loss, their third straight defeat of the competition.

You can check out the scorecard and Match Tracker here.

Turning Point

When Dhawal Kulkarni marked his run-up to bowl the 15th over, the Notts were 122/4, looking like they were on course to post a 180-something total. Lord knows what happened in that over, but it seemed to have triggered the English side’s “God mode”. After accounting for 18 runs in that over, Notts scored 71 more in the next five, making a mockery of the game right then and there by posting a mammoth total of 221.

Highs and Lows

If I were a fan who has paid money to watch a T20 game, I just want to see one thing - sixes, sixes and more sixes. And boy there were some sixes hit today, alright! The game today was witness to SEVENTEEN SIXES, and this was despite the likes of Malinga, Bumrah and Harry Gurney trying their best to curtail the ball from flying around. T20 cricket equates to entertainment? You’re goddamn right!

Mumbai’s appaling display with the bat was a downer. Sure enough, your bowlers conceded 221, but as batsmen, it’s your duty to ensure that you put your best foot forward to chase the target down. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen with Mumbai today and it kinda ended up leaving a bitter taste on the viewers.

Rating Charts

Powerplay exploitation: Notts 9/10 and Mumbai 3/10

While Alex Hales has always been the Notts’ go-to man on every occasion, today, it was Joe Clarke who turned the screws in the powerplay. After a relatively quiet start - 16 off the first 2 overs - it was Clarke’s six off Bumrah which kick-started the fireworks, after which the English side did not hold back. With able support from Hales, Clarke cut loose - scoring 41 runs himself in the powerplay - and his cameo meant that the Outlaws reached 60/1 at the end of the 6th over.

It’s always such a bummer to see a chasing side give up inside the powerplay - especially in a high-scoring game - and to put it straight, what unfolded in the first six overs of Mumbai’s chase was nothing but abject surrender. After losing all three off Lynn, de Kock and Rohit, the Blues were more than happy to just play out the overs and did not make a solitary attempt to put pressure back on the Notts bowlers. 40/3 was what they eventually ended up with.

Middle-overs manoeuvring: Notts 8.5/10 and Mumbai 5/10

Such was the absurdity of Notts’ hitting in both the powerplay and the death, that their middle-over tally of 80 runs - which is in fact excellent - looks almost underwhelming. Despite losing three wickets and being choked by the Pandya brothers, both Moores and Patel kept the score ticking by collecting the odd boundaries and running hard. In fact, the 18-run 15th over from Kulkarni ended up really helping their cause.

12.92 was Mumbai’s required run rate at the start of the middle-overs and by the end of the phase, that crept up to 21.8. I guess that should tell you everything you need to know. Either way, despite batting slowly, both Yadav and Pollard did not throw in the towel and kept grinding the runs to frustrate the Notts bowlers. The whole phase was somewhat pointless - so was Yadav’s unbeaten 58 - and if anything, it saved Mumbai from embarrassment. That’ about it.

Death bowling: Mumbai 0/10 and Notts 6/10

Oh I’ve yearned for this moment for ages now - to rate a team ‘0’ at the death. And ironically, it’s a team that has both Bumrah and Malinga in it? Oh well. Anyway, I think it would be disrespectful to make it about the bowlers; let’s talk about the Notts batsmen instead. Patel and Mullaney scored a mind-boggling EIGHT TWO RUNS (yes, you read that right) at the death today, in what was one of most brutal onslaughts of death-overs hitting witnessed in cricket history. The duo hit 7 sixes and 6 fours between them and such was the form they were in that they took Bumrah for 25 runs in a single over. Let that sink in!

Mumbai’s death overs with the bat was nothing but a charity phase were the Notts bowlers allowed Suryakumar Yadav to stroll towards a meaningless fifty that lacked purpose. After four excruciatingly dull overs, the final over of the innings, which yielded 20 runs, ensured that the game ended on a high. A pretty professional display from the Notts bowlers, you could say.

Match Frenzy O Meter - Good

Even if Mumbai had been bowled out for 20, or even if they had batted 120 deliveries and scored 0/0, I would have rated this match good. That’s how GREAT Notts’ batting display was. Not something you hear often, but we legit might not see an exhibition of hitting like this for a long time to come.