The Japan Times - Rickelton ton in vain as Hyderabad chase down 244 to beat Mumbai

South Africa's Rickelton hit an unbeaten 123 off 55 balls to power five-time champions Mumbai to 243-5 after the hosts elected to bat first at Wankhede Stadium.

The left-handed Rickelton, a wicketkeeper-batter chosen in place of fellow South African Quinton de Kock, struck the fastest ton by a Mumbai batter, reaching three figures in 44 balls.

But Hyderabad relied on their South African star Heinrich Klaasen, who hit an unbeaten 65 to steer the team home with eight balls to spare.

It was the fourth highest successful run chase in the IPL as Hyderabad registered their fifth successive win to move to third in the table.

Klaasen 30-ball blitz came after openers Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma put on 129 to get Mumbai off to a flying start in response. Head blasted 76 off 30 deliveries, while Abhishek added 45 off 24 balls.

Hyderabad stuttered after they lost two wickets in two balls to Afghanistan spinner A.M. Ghazanfar, with Head departing the next over.

But Klaasen's masterful knock ensured Hyderabad stayed on track as Nitish Kumar Reddy chipped in with 21, before Salil Arora struck the winning six to finish on 30 not out.

Mumbai slumped to their sixth defeat in eight matches with their chances of making the playoffs taking another hit.

Rickelton registered the highest individual score for a Mumbai player in the IPL, surpassing Sanath Jayasuriya's unbeaten 114 in the inaugural edition in 2008.

Rickelton put on 93 runs for the opening wicket with Will Jacks (46) and struck 10 fours and eight sixes in his explosive innings.

S.Yamada--JT