Hardik Pandya was a pleased captain as Mumbai Indians (MI) registered a seven-wicket victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Wednesday (April 23).
Riding on spectacular bowling performances from Trent Boult (4-26 in 4 overs) and Deepak Chahar (2-12 in 4 overs), MI restricted SRH to a below-par 143/8 in 20 overs.
Asked to bat first, the hosts were reeling at 35/5 in the ninth over but Heinrich Klaasen’s 44-ball 71 and his 99-run stand for the sixth wicket with Abhinav Manohar (43) propelled them to a respectable score.
In reply, MI overhauled the target in 15.4 overs, courtesy of Rohit Sharma’s 46-ball 70 and Suryakumar Yadav’s unbeaten 40 off 19 balls.
“Good to have wins behind our back. Glad the boys are taking the momentum in the right way. Rohit, Deepak, Boult, SKY, everyone, always felt that once everyone started clicking, it’s going to be a complete combination, overall a wonderful win. Captaincy sometimes is about instincts, I like to see the game and react and not always rely on pre-made plans,” Hardik stated at the post-match presentation.
Left-arm wrist spinner Vignesh Puthur was given one over, in which he conceded 15 runs against SRH.
On bowling Puthur, the MI skipper said: “At that point, we wanted them to take a chance and give us a wicket. Young guy, hadn’t played a couple of games, was tough for him and I understand. We can get better in all departments, we discussed about being very clinical and very smart. We’ll take it game by game. We’re very satisfied with this win.”
On the other hand, SRH skipper Pat Cummins praised Klaasen and Manohar for their excellent partnership, which gave the bowlers something to work with, but felt the team needed someone to “steady the ship” early on.
“Abhinav and Klassy got us to a good total, but we couldn't get through this innings. Needed a guy to really steady the ship. You have to build your innings here, if you face a few balls you can catch up,” Cummins said.
SRH failed to cross 150 on the very same surface where they had racked up a mammoth 286/6 in their campaign opener against Rajasthan Royals.
“Difference between our first game where we got 280 odd and then on the same surface we got rolled over. In T20, the margins are also very little, you need to perform on the given day,” Cummins remarked.
“We have a few away games now, it will be about assessing each wicket as quickly as possible. Some days it will be all out attack, some days it will be about weighing our options,” he concluded.
