Mayank Agarwal said that the PBKS doesn't rely just on Kagiso Rabada for wickets.
The 23rd match of the ongoing IPL 2022 was played between Mumbai Indians (MI) and Punjab Kings (PBKS) at the MCA Stadium in Pune on 13 April. In this entertaining match, Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and asked the Punjab Kings (PBKS) to bat first.
Batting first, the Punjab Kings (PBKS) managed to post 198/5 runs in 20 overs, thanks to half-centuries from captain Mayank Agarwal (52) and senior batter Shikhar Dhawan (70). Basil Thampi snared 2 wickets for MI against PBKS.
Chasing a target of 199 runs to win, MI got off to a poor start, as they lost their two wickets for just 32 runs against the PBKS on Wednesday.
Read Also: IPL 2022: "We’ve been not playing good cricket," Rohit Sharma after MI's 5th loss
Then, Dewald Brevis (49), Tilak Verma (36), and Suryakumar Yadav (43) tried their best to keep the MI in the match, but they eventually fell 12-run short of the target against the PBKS to suffer its fifth straight defeat in the ongoing IPL 2022.
Odean Smith and Kagiso Rabada took four and two wickets respectively against the MI to play a key role in the PBKS’ third victory in the ongoing IPL 15.
After winning the match, PBKS captain Agarwal praised his team's excellent performance and said that their batsmen were much more careful and aware of the MI. The skipper said that it was a brand they wanted to play for and wants to continue playing in the ongoing IPL 2022.
Mayank Agarwal said in a post-match presentation: “It was a good night, very happy to contribute to the team's win. The crucial thing for us was the two points. We can't just say it was runs on the board, this game had a lot of ups and downs. There were a lot of crucial moments and more often than not, we were nailing and winning those moments. When the game was 50-50, we won those moments and it came towards us. It wasn't batting alone; it was periods in the game.”
He added, “That's the brand of cricket we want to play, we want to play aggressive, hard cricket. With that, we got to show a good mindset. We were a lot smarter as well. In the last game against Gujarat, we gave wickets to Rashid when it wasn't required. This time we were a lot more aware, we were a lot more careful and made sure that we don't try and give wickets to their main bowlers.”
On Rahul Chahar got thrashed by Dewald Brevis hitting hard in the match as the young MI all-rounder scored 29 runs in his over, the PBKS skipper said: “We've spoken about in the team - 'If it's your day, you got to take the team through.'”
Agarwal added, “It can get hard, credit to Brevis for the way he took on Rahul. Great comeback from Rahul as well after that over. The other three overs he bowled were tight. When Tilak and Brevis were going, we had to change our strategy, get in the main bowlers and try and get a wicket. Luckily it happened through run-outs and also our main bowlers taking wickets.”
He signed off by saying, “We don't rely just on Rabada (for wickets). He leads the attack, but we have two other guys to do that. It's nice, very happy to have three wins. We are playing good cricket overall. If we continue to do that, if we improve 5-10 percent every game, we'll go on to do special things.”
(With ANI Inputs)