Rohit Sharma was an elated captain as Mumbai Indians (MI) produced a clinical showing in both batting and bowling to thrash Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by 8 wickets in Abu Dhabi on Friday (October 16).
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Asked to bowl first, the defending champions restricted KKR to 148/5 in 20 overs. Rahul Chahar was the stand-out bowler for MI, claiming 2 wickets by conceding only 18 runs in his four overs. Jasprit Bumrah (1-22) was also economical with the ball and picked up the prized scalp of Andre Russell.
In reply, Mumbai rode on Quinton de Kock’s blazing 78 not out off 44 balls to overhaul the target with 19 balls to spare.
“(We were) clinical with the ball, clinical with the bat, overall you know, the performance that we were expecting was there,” Rohit said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
“It is always a challenge when you have won four out of four, how you turn on that particular day, it is very important and I thought we turned up really well, right from the start we were there on their faces.”
The MI skipper also admitted that he prefers to take a backseat when batting with De Kock, who likes to take on the bowlers from the outset.
“I enjoy batting with him (De Kock), he is very straightforward on what he wants to do and most of the time I have taken a backseat because he likes to take on the bowlers right from the word go.
“I probably assess the situation, I have a role to play in the squad and I try and do that more often.
“But I want Quinny to bat the way he is batting and he shouldn’t be taking any sort of pressure about what the team is expecting from him, as long he keeps doing what he loves to do, we are in good position,” he remarked.
Rohit said the victory was special as the team chased successfully, which could be the trend in the second half of the tournament.
“It gives us a lot of confidence, that has been the trend so far in the first half of the tournament, team batting second have lost many games.
“So I guess it is changing now, the second half of the tournament, teams batting second will win most of the games, that’s what I feel,” he concluded.
(With PTI inputs)
