Mumbai Indians (MI) opener Quinton de Kock lauded his teammate Suryakumar Yadav after their important partnership helped the team smoothly sail past Delhi Capitals (DC) in the run-chase in Abu Dhabi this Sunday (October 11).
Chasing the target of 163 in Match 27 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020, MI lost skipper Rohit Sharma (5) very early but then De Kock (53) and Suryakumar (53) batted exceedingly well for their half-centuries, making identical scores in their team's eventually successful quest to victory by five wickets.
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"When Surya came in, we just naturally assessed what we are dealing with out there, it did help when he walked out there, he had intent and he was off with a flier. It kept me a lot more relaxed, we complimented each other really well," said De Kock in a video posted over the official IPL Twitter handle.
"I wish I could reverse-lap Jofra Archer, that's about it. Don't think I am brave enough to play the shots Suryakumar plays. To be honest, I wasn't looking to take Anrich Nortje on, it was a matter of just seizing the opportunity when I had it. Fortunately, there were one-two balls I was able to go after," he added.
At the start of the run-chase, De Kock said, they identified pacer Kagiso Rabada (2/28) as the major threat within the DC attack and someone to try and just bat sensibly against, without taking many risks.
"We had realised Rabada is one guy we need to keep our eyes for. He is bowling really well at the moment and he just naturally takes wickets. I did not look to go after him, that's it."
"We as a team keep it simple, we try to play to our strengths. We have a little bit of momentum now, we have good players in our team and having confidence in each other helps us," said the South African.
While De Kock, Suryakumar and even Ishan Kishan (28) batted very well, the game was set-up for MI in the first half by their bowlers. The likes of Jasprit Bumrah (0/26), Krunal Pandya (2/26) and Rahul Chahar (0/27) showed fantastic discipline through their spells and kept a tight leash on the run-scoring.
The victory was MI's fifth in the competition from seven matches and they now sit on the top of the points table.
The team next play on Friday (October 16) against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).
(Inputs from ANI)
