Our Bureau
Mumbai
Mumbai Indians and Punjab Kings locked horns last night in a match that was pretty consequential for them as the winner of the match would have been guaranteed a spot in Qualifier 1. Unexpectedly, the match wasn’t much of a contest as Punjab dominated the match and sealed the spot at the top of the table.
In the post-match presentation, MI’s captain Hardik Pandya expressed the disappointment he had in this match. He accepted that the team didn’t really play their best cricket and that cost them a lot. He also spoke on how they were probably 20 runs short and if they batted better the result could’ve been in their favour.
“The way the wicket played, we were 20 runs short. That happens. We’ve been playing really good cricket, but we couldn’t play our best cricket, which cost us a lot. IPL is like that. This franchise has won five trophies, and it has always been tough,” Hardik Pandya said in the post-match presentation.
Pandya also backed his young left-arm pacer, Ashwini Kumar who came in as an impact substitute but only got to bowl one over. He got smashed by Josh Inglis for three consecutive boundaries and gave away 16 runs in the over but Pandya has stated that he and the team back the young pacer.
He said, “We could have capitalised either at the start or in the middle, we’ll figure it out. I back Ashwani, and we back Ashwani. That has been the plan throughout the season. We have played with the leggie and the quick. Today, on this wicket, we felt that it’ll work, that’s fine.”
Pandya was also asked whether batting got better in the second half to which he refused and accepted that the opposition played better than them. He said that the bowling unit wasn’t at its best today and the Kings took advantage of it.
“It would be the same, I don’t think much difference. They really played good cricket; the second wicket stand was outstanding for those two batters. They took on certain balls whenever we erred, and I don’t think as a bowling unit we were clinical, we gave some balls which they capitalised, and at certain times, they played some good shots as well,” Hardik stated.
Mumbai Indians will now be playing in the Eliminator, but their opponent team has not been confirmed yet. If the Royal Challengers Bangalore win their match tonight, they will seal their spot at the top 2 and MI will be facing the Gujarat Titans otherwise MI and RCB will fight it out in the Eliminator.
