SRH vs MI: Cameron Green, Arjun Tendulkar shine on the big stage

Australia all-rounder Cameron Green had been a revelation even before he made his Indian Premier League (IPL) debut for Mumbai Indians (MI). And on Tuesday, the platform was well set in Hyderabad for him to shine, and he surely impressed, with most of the damage being done with the bat.

Having been acquired by MI for a whopping price tag of Rs 17.50, Green certainly came into the IPL with a lot of expectations.

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And on Tuesday, it was not only about Green finally announcing his arrival on the big stage, but also justifying his price tag, and also giving a glimpse to the fans of what they could expect from the 23-year-old.

Green scored an unbeaten 64 while coming into bat at number three, and also finished with figures of 1/29 from four overs. It was certainly a performance to remember for Green, but he is just not getting carried away with the expectations. And there’s no reason to be.

“I think first couple of games were a learning curve for me and our team. Bit of a sticky situation (when I walked out to bat). But glad the plans came off. I am a work in progress with my bowling at the death. Obviously, we can continue with the winning momentum,” said a confident Green at the post-match presentation ceremony.

Not only Green, but Arjun Tendulkar too steals the limelight

Cameron Green was not the only MI star who rose up to the big occasion. Arjun Tendulkar, son of cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar, finally made a mark in the IPL with his first-ever wicket in the cash-rich league.

Arjun had been part of the MI setup in 2021 and 2022, but it is only this year that the 23-year-old is finally getting a chance to shine.

On Tuesday, Arjun was given with the responsibility of bowling the final over of the match, with SRH needing 20 runs off six balls.

He began with a low full toss to Abdul Samad, that ended up as a dot ball, and the SRH batter was immediately run out the very next ball, with Hrithik Shokeen perfectly timing in a throw to Ishan Kishan, who whipped off the bails. t

Mayank Markande was the new batter in, and Markande was off the mark with a brace in the third ball of the over.

SRH still needed 16 runs off the last three balls, and while it was certain by the end that MI would have the last laugh, Arjun delivered the final punch to the match in some fashion, to get rid of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and seal the match.

Arjun unleashed a fuller ball to Bhuvneshwar, and Bhuvneshwar looked to go straight down the ground, but instead got an outside edge to Rohit Sharma at extra cover, who completed the catch.

There’s still a long way to go in Arjun’s cricketing career, but to get off the mark with the ball in the IPL would certainly be a special feeling.

“Obviously it was great getting my first IPL wicket. I just had to focus on what was in hand, the plan and executing it. Our plan was just to bowl wide and get the long boundary into play, make the batsman hit it to the longer side. I love bowling, I am happy to bowl anytime the captain asks me to and just stick to the team plan and give my best,” said Arjun after the match.

Lack of resistance from SRH batters

SRH batters clearly found the going tough on Tuesday against MI, and much of their batting troubles were due to the inability of their batters to get off to good starts.

The likes of Harry Brook (9), Rahul Tripathi (7) and Abhishek Sharma (1) felt the pressure of a big-total chase, and eventually succumbed to it, but an unlikely hero in Mayank Agarwal stepped in for SRH and almost did the job for them.

Agarwal looked set for a 50-plus score, and was almost like the central figure for SRH, even forging productive stands with Aiden Markram (22) and later Heinrich Klaasen (36), but lack of support from some of his other partners probably hurt SRH’s momentum going forward.

Had the top order fired in full cylinders for SRH, the complexion of the game would have been slightly different, and maybe, that would have helped them get those 20 runs needed from the final over.

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