Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma believes they had the match under their grasp till the 19th over and rued Tim David’s run-out which was the turning point in the game against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Tuesday.
19 runs were needed off the final 13 balls when David ran himself out in order to keep strike for the next over.
Before that, the hard-hitter smashed a hat-trick of sixes against T Natarajan, who missed his yorkers and bowled full-tosses, to get MI back in the contest. But after David’s run-out, Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowled a wicket-maiden penultimate over.
Meanwhile, SRH had posted a par score of 193 runs on the board after MI elected to bowl first. MI got off to a good start as Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan added 95 runs for the opening alliance. However, MI then lost both of its settled openers in quick succession and thus the asking rate kept climbing up after their dismissals.
In fact, MI looked out of the contest at one stage however Tim David was able to get his team in front after he scored a quickfire knock of 46 runs off just 18 balls.
On the other hand, Mumbai Indians did well to restrict SRH at 193 as at one stage they were looking all set to get to 210. However, MI bowlers conceded only 29 runs in the final four overs and also took four wickets.
Rohit Sharma said in the post-match presentation, “Till about the second last over I thought we had it. Unfortunate runout there of Tim David. We thought we were very much in the game till that runout. You would back yourself to get even 19 off the final over. Credit to Sunrisers, they held their nerve pretty well at the back end. We wanted to try a few things while keeping one eye on the future. We wanted certain guys to bowl under pressure in certain situations of the game but I thought they batted pretty well to get 193. The way we pulled things back at the end was very good. We weren’t consistent upfront with the ball. We came pretty close with the bat but couldn’t finish off. Feels good (to get his highest score on the score). For us, it is simple (for the last game). Just want to tick off the boxes and finish off on a high note. We will try everything we can from our side. If there is an opportunity to try out new guys we will definitely look to do that as well.”
MI should have got over the line against Sunrisers Hyderabad but they weren’t able to hold their nerves in the final two overs. It has been a disappointing season for the five-time champions and they will look to end it on a winning note.
MI will play their last match of the season against Delhi Capitals at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Saturday.
