CHENNAI, April 17: “If bowlers are executing the plans, it makes it easy for the captain” was what Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma said on Saturday after his side beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by 13 runs in their IPL match here.
Rohit credited his team’s bowling unit, led by Rahul Chahar (3/19) and Trent Boult (3/28), for the win.
“It was a great effort from the bowling unit. We knew it was not going to be easy and when you have a pitch like that and the bowlers are executing the plans, it makes it easy for the captain to manoeuvre the field and keep having those options of your bowling changes,” Rohit said at the post-match presentation.
Sunrisers restricted Mumbai Indians to 150/5 as their bowlers, led by Vijay Shankar (2/19) put up a splendid show, but they were bundled out for 137 in 19.4 overs to lose their third game on the trot.
According to Rohit, his side’s score of 150/5 was a good total on the Chepauk track.
“I thought it was a good score on that pitch and the way we came out and bowled and showed that attitude on the field was very important, it was great team performance,” Rohit said.
“We can bat a little better in the middle overs,” he added.
Mumbai Indians were brilliant in fielding and Rohit praised the team’s effort.
Bumrah-Boult duo
Jasprit Bumrah is “one the best death bowlers” in the game, gushed star New Zealand seamer Boult after the Indian pace spearhead yet again played a key role in Mumbai Indians’ triumph against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Bumrah conceded only 14 runs in his four overs and took one wicket as MI bowled out SRH in the last over.
“It’s great to see a guy (Bumrah) like that operate. How clear he is with what he is doing with the ball throughout his whole spell,” Boult said.
The dynamic duo of Boult and Bumrah have combined fabulously in the MI set up.
The two churned out sensational performance in the last edition to help their side win an unprecedented fifth title.
“But at the death, I personally believe, he is one of the best death bowlers in the world. He makes my job a heck of a lot easier,” he added.
“It is always nice being on the right side of those situations. Hopefully, we can get a bit of momentum into this tournament”.
Need to rotate strike
Sunrisers Hyderabad mentor VVS Laxman rued that his batsmen could not rotate the strike when getting boundaries was tough against Mumbai Indians bowlers on a tough Chepuk wicket.
Chasing a modest 151-run target, SRH could manage only 137 as their batsmen struggled to score runs in the middle overs on Saturday.
“That’s (taking singles and twos) a very important skill especially on these kind of wickets because it is not easy to hit through the line. You can’t rely on just boundaries and sixes,” Laxman said at the post-match press conference.
“It’s very important to keep the dot-ball percentage low, and the only way you can do it is by manipulating the field by rotating the strike. That is one aspect of the game which is very important on these kind of wickets.
“Unfortunately we were not able to do that especially when Rahul Chahar was bowling and even when other fast bowlers were bowling in the middle overs.”
Laxman said as the ball got old in the second half of the innings, playing aggressive was challenging. He also stressed the importance of using the powerplay restrictions.
SRH skipper David Warner said that it was quite disappointing to lose three matches in a row.
“Yes, spot on (had another difficult night). I don’t know how to take that. It is quite disappointing.
“Two of us at the top (me and Jonny Bairstow) got set and obviously my run out, Jonny stepping on his wickets and playing some false shots in the middle proved that if you don’t have a guy there in the end or two guys there at the end, you are not going to win games,” he said.
According to Warner, these scores of around 150 were gettable. (PTI)
