Mumbai Indians (MI) all-rounder Krunal Pandya hailed his team's bowling attack after their successful defence of 208/5 against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) despite a flat pitch, short boundaries in Sharjah this Sunday (October 4).
MI became the only team in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 so far to not concede 200 runs at the venue as they restricted SRH to just 174/7 in the second half.
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Krunal, who bowled a fine spell of left-arm spin for 1/35, heaped praise on the team's fellow bowlers, especially the pacemen, Trent Boult (2/28), James Pattinson (2/29), who were terrific on the day. And while ace quick Jasprit Bumrah (2/41) seemed short of his best, he was still good enough in patches. Kieron Pollard (0/20) was economical with the ball too.
"We have really quality fast bowlers, obviously Jasprit Bumrah is our number one bowler with him bowling has strength with Boult coming in the side. The way Pattinson has gone about his business in every game. All the fast bowlers have been consistent and in the ring also Mitchell McClenaghan and (Nathan) Coulter Nile are waiting. We have good fast bowlers pool," said Krunal at the post-match press conference, as quoted by ANI.
"All the bowlers bowled really well especially the crucial overs everyone bowled. Every over, in fact, was crucial because the ground is small and one over can change the momentum. As a bowling unit, we were unpredictable and were ahead in terms of what we had to do," he added.
MI decided to bat first after winning the toss and were able to post a huge total on the back of opener Quinton de Kock's (67) fantastic half-century and useful knocks at the other end from Suryakumar Yadav (27), Ishan Kishan (31), Hardik Pandya (28), Pollard (25*) and Krunal (20*) himself.
"The strategy was to put the maximum runs, lat the end of the day anything above 200 the pressure will be there while chasing. So, I guess it is better to bat first and put up a good total and then bowlers can execute their plans," he said.
With this victory, their third in five outings, including two losses, MI reached the top of the points table. The team next play Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday (October 6).
