I Thought We Had The Game Till The 15th Over: Rohit On Defeat vs KKR
With this defeat, MI moved up to the last spot in the points table, only slightly ahead of SRH
Mumbai: MI captain Rohit Sharma said he thought they had the game till the 15th over of KKR’s innings during their match on Wednesday night. The five-time champions suffered their third loss in a row after losing to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by five wickets at the MCA Stadium in Pune.
The match was definitely heading towards the death overs chasing a target. However, a scintillating inning from Pat Cummins was followed by a close end. The Australian registered the joint-fastest fifty in IPL history and ended the game with four overs to spare. Also Read: Extraordinary! I Couldn’t Believe The Way Cummins Was Hitting: Shreyas Iyer
Praising Pat Cummins for his unbeaten 56 off 15 balls, Sharma said during the post-match presentation: “Never expected him to come and play the way he played a lot of credit to him for the way he played.”
Evaluating the new pitch at MCA Stadium as a good pitch to play cricket, Sharma said: “The pitch got better and better as the game went on. In the beginning, it was a bit off. Overall, it was a good one. It was a pitch to play cricket. I thought we didn’t start well with the bat, but in the end, in the last four or five overs, there was a good effort from the batting unit to score 70-plus runs.”
Sharma continued: “We did not bowl according to the plan, I thought we had the game till the 15th over, but the way Cummins came in and played was brilliant.”
With this defeat, MI moved up to the last spot in the points table, only slightly ahead of SRH.
Chasing 162 runs on a rough surface, the asking rate was never an issue of pressure for KKR. However, consistently falling wickets kept Mumbai in the game. The five-time champion also sent Andre Russell back to the pavilion before he could do any serious damage.
Opening up that either Venkatesh Iyer or Pat Cummins could have played the trick, Sharma said: “When there are runs on the board, I always believe we have the upper hand. Because we have them five down, it was a matter of the wicket of Venky or Pat, they had Sunil who could dodge them. It would be difficult to digest, the way it turned out in the last few overs. We have a lot of hard work ahead of us.”
Mumbai Indians will next face the in-form Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the same venue on April 9 (Saturday).
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