Rohit Sharma was an elated captain after Mumbai Indians’ thumping 102-run victory over Kolkata Knight Riders on Wednesday (May 9) night.
MI rode on Ishan Kishan’s brilliance with the bat to pile up a mammoth total of 210/6 in 20 overs. The 19-year-old scored a breathtaking 62 runs off 21 balls with 5 fours and 6 sixes that shifted the momentum towards Mumbai.
Speaking at the post-match presentation ceremony, Rohit said: “As a team, we tend to pick up in the month of May. I can only wish and hope we come together as a team at the start. It’s never easy to come out right all the time, we’d like to start on a high.”
The MI skipper also hailed Kishan for changing the course of the game with his scintillating batting.
“Without doubt Ishan Kishan’s knock, his fearless knock was the turning point. Hitting wasn’t easy as the ball was sticking in. Ishan just came in and changed momentum. All credit to him, he was waiting for this knock, wanted to come out,” Sharma added.
In the last over, Ben Cutting (24 runs off 9 balls) and Krunal Pandya (8 runs off 2 balls) demolished Piyush Chawla for 22 runs that propelled Mumbai beyond 200.
Talking about Cutting’s blitz at the fag end of the innings, Rohit said: “We were 65 after first ten overs, but scoring 145 in last ten overs is a magnificent effort by all the batters. Ben Cutting as well, he hasn't been getting much opportunity as well, it's not easy to come out and play shots like that. We as a team are prepared to post a total or chase down what is put in front of us.”
On the other hand, KKR skipper Dinesh Karthik rued the dropped chances during the MI innings, saying, “200-plus is always a big ask. We didn’t bat well enough and who knows what would have happened if we had taken those catches.”
“It was a good batting wicket, we lost wickets in the Powerplay and it’s always tough to catch up. We took it like normal game even if they have a good record against us. We need to raise our skill levels and belief a bit, as a leader I need to stand up and say I believe in the boys,” Dinesh added.
