Data Shorts: MI's smart lengths and sticky pitch trip up SRH

While Mumbai Indians are second from bottom in terms of win% since 2023, they sit atop the charts for the same parameter in home games in this period. They have won 58.8% of their home games - the best in the competition, with only CSK (57.8%) and GT (55.5%) managing to win more than they lose at home in this period. At a time when most teams are figuring out how the wickets at their home behave, MI have been ahead of the curve in this matter. If the success at home was driven by their batters in 2023-24, this cycle they have assembled a bowling attack that could emulate what their batting lineup did in the two previous seasons.

The game against SRH was played on Pitch #6 where MI bowled KKR for 116 earlier in the season. It was the same pitch were KKR successfully defended 169 against the home team last season - the only sub-200 target that was safeguarded at Wankhede since 2023. With SRH heavily reliant on their attacking stroke play, the same wicket was dished out to them and Mumbai had the good fortune of winning the toss and bowling first on a rather tacky wicket, before the dew made its presence felt.

Mumbai seamers largely abandoned the length area, preferring to go either full or stay within their half with as many as 64% of the balls on either side of length. And when they bowled on a length, it was largely pace off. While Trent Boult backed his ability to go full, Jasprit Bumrah mixed up his pace-off variations with yorkers. Hardik Pandya tested middle of the pitch until he missed his yorkers in the final over of the innings, that went for 22 runs.

Hardik later confirmed the plan: "The first couple of overs that Deepak bowled, couple of balls got stuck there, we realized that may be change of pace will be useful on this wicket. I think as soon as we figured that out, we were backing that with the same intent. We were trying to mix it up. We executed the yorkers very smartly."

Seamers by length

MI

SRH

All in all, Mumbai seamers bowled 30 off pace deliveries which fetched 1/36. The grip from the wicket in the first half of the game combined with their ability to mix up lengths threw SRH off their timing as three of their top four batters scored at well under a run a ball. And Klaasen's strike rate got past 100 for the first time off the 24th ball he faced.

Of the first 15 full tosses SRH batters received on the day, only 20 runs were scored - underlining how SRH batters were off their timing for major part of the innings.

Compared to the home team's 64% of deliveries on either side of length, SRH seamers bowled just 42% in the corresponding areas. Their cutters found lesser purchase as it conceded 60 runs off 33 balls despite returning three wickets.

SRH stumbled to their seventh defeat in their last eight away games as their hopes hang by a thread midway through the season. Mumbai seem to have found the vigour after a slow start to their campaign but more importantly unlocked the secret sauce for home success.