Chahar, Boult, Bumrah keep Sunrisers winless by defending 150
Pollard's unbeaten 35 off 22 gave Mumbai a respectable total
On this pitch, you do all your scoring in the powerplay, but also be mindful you don't lose too many wickets trying to do so. With Quinton de Kock struggling for his touch, Rohit Sharma took on the onus of scoring, scoring 31 off 23 in the powerplay. At 53 for 0, however, no side could claim the honours.
As soon as the field spread, the game changed completely. Shankar used the slowness in the surface to have Rohit caught at deep midwicket, and did the catching himself for the dangerous-looking Suryakumar Yadav. The Sunrisers didn't mind that Rashid Khan enjoys a great match-up against Pollard and Hardik Pandya. They used him from overs eight through 12 for just 17 runs. When Mujeeb Ur Rahman came on to replace Khan, he removed de Kock, caught at deep midwicket for a 39-ball 40. Mumbai 98 for 3 in 14 overs.
It was now down to the best lower-middle order of the last IPL to drag Mumbai to a total they might feel comfortable with. However, Khaleel Ahmed, Khan and Mujeeb stifled them. Mujeeb got Ishan Kishan caught down the leg side by the wicketkeeper, and Ahmed got Hardik. Leading up to the last two balls of the innings, no sixes had come in the last 27 balls. Between them, three of the four new players, Shankar, Ahmed and Abhishek Sharma bowled eight overs for 48 runs and three wickets.
The other change in Sunrisers' line-up was the dropping of Wriddhiman Saha and the promotion of Bairstow to the top of the order. It nearly proved right as he laid into the New Zealanders, Boult and Adam Milne. He hit three fours and four sixes in 15 balls in the first five overs. At 55 for 0 in five overs, the Sunrisers were possibly a good final powerplay over from practically sealing the chase.
Which is probably why Rohit went to Bumrah to close the powerplay out. He nearly got Bairstow out with a slower ball, but a two-run over meant the Sunrisers still had work to do now with the field spread out. There was no reason, though, for Bairstow to change his tempo. Unfortunately, though, his back foot slipped onto the base of his wicket as he looked to ramp Krunal Pandya, making him the fifth Sunrisers victim out of 13 hit-wicket dismissals in the IPL.
With 47 required in five overs and the fifth bowler's quota done, Rohit still went to Krunal to avoid bowling Milne at the end. Shankar hit two big sixes to keep the Sunrisers breathing, but Bumrah's mix of slower balls and yorkers on the slow pitch raised the asking rate high enough for Boult to take advantage of the batters who had no option but to hit out at him.
Sidharth Monga is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo