IPL 2018: Krishnappa Gowtham won us the game in the end, says Ajinkya Rahane

Rajasthan Royals are fifth on the points table as of now.

Gowtham scored 33 from 11 balls. (IANS)

The last night's match between the Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals was an absolute rollercoaster with fortunes changing from one team to the other. The game was sealed by the young Karnataka player K. Gowtham who magnificently got 33 off just 11 balls to chase down the target of 168 for his team and give them the much-needed win.

The innings by Gowtham has mightily impressed the Rajasthan Royals captain Ajinkya Rahane. Talking about the whole game. Ajinkya said, “I still can’t believe what happened. I just want to give credit to my bowlers for the way they came back after 14 overs because it looked like they’d get to 180-190. But in the end, KG’s knock was unbelievable. In the time-out, the plan was to take it deep. We knew we had hitters like Jos, Ben, Klassen, and Jofra who could hit the ball a long way. We knew that we were always just two big shots away.”

Ajinkya Rahane further added, “Rahul batted really well at the top of the order last year, and that is the combination we wanted to go in with. It looks like we’ll still continue with that. We are happy to see Jofra back, his spell and the way Jaydev and Dhawal bowled in the middle overs was the key. Jofra can bowl at 140+ and his pace and accuracy amazing. He’s always thinking about wickets and when you do that your mindset is always positive which is the way to go about.”

K. Gowtham too was really happy and satisfied to have played the match-winning knock for his side. After the game, he was quoted saying, “I’m on top of the world. I had a decent first-class year. The captain asked me to believe and that’s what I did. It worked. You just need a good hit with 6 needed off 3 balls. That’s what I was thinking when I denied the single.”

(Inputs from CricketNext)


 

 
 

By Kashish Chadha - 23 Apr, 2018

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