IPL 2018: Very Much Alive, Wanted This Win Desperately - Rohit Sharma

The three-time Indian Premier League (IPL) champions Mumbai Indians finally returned to winning ways after registering an eight-wicket victory with a couple of deliveries to spare against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the MCA Stadium in Pune.

It was a much-needed victory for Mumbai, who is still languishing at the bottom of the table. However, following this victory Mumbai will take confidence into the rest of the tournament. It might well be signs of a turnaround.

It was a brilliant innings of 75 by Suresh Raina which eventually propelled Chennai to a score of 165 in their allotted 20 overs.

The Mumbai bowlers were up to the mark in the death overs and restricted the CSK batsmen. Suryakumar Yadav got them off to a solid start. Evin Lewis and Rohit Sharma then ensured Mumbai reached the target convincingly in 19.4 overs.

Despite Lewis’ dismissal, Hardik Pandya a handy knock and stayed with the skipper in a bid to cross over the line.

It was Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit, who won the toss and following the trend put the hosts in. Super Kings began steadily with Ambati Rayudu and Shane Watson striking some delightful shots.

Opening batter Rayudu started off from where he left the other day. It was left-arm spinner Krunal Pandya, who bagged the maiden breakthrough in the form of Shane Watson. It was a much-needed wicket especially given the fact that Watson was in a good form.

Following the very next delivery after Watson’s wicket, Rayudu played an amazing shot. He came dancing down the track and launched the ball straight over the boundary ropes.

The middle-order batsman Suresh Raina joined Rayudu in the middle. Raina struck a gigantic six of that same over of Krunal to get off to a brisk start.

Well, Rayudu, on the other hand, continued his exceptional form and found the gaps on a consistent basis. His innings of 46 came off just 35 deliveries were studded with a couple fours and four sixes.

Raina was also looking in sublime touch and the duo took the total near the 100 mark. It was again Krunal, who provided the all-important breakthrough in the form of Rayudu. He attempted a big shot but ended up giving a straightforward catch to the long-on fielder.

Despite the wicket, Raina didn’t bog down. He was joined by skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni as CSK was coasting towards a big total.

Dhoni carried on from where he left the other night and smashed three fours and a six during his stay for 26 off 21 deliveries. He shared a 46-run partnership with Raina before Mitchell McClenaghan claimed his prized scalp.

The left-arm pacer added one more in the form of Dwayne Bravo in the very first delivery he faced. Raina kept on playing the big shots. However, Indians bowlers were quite superb in the death overs.

There was a situation when Chennai looked well in pursuit of a total of at least 190. However, Mumbai bowlers were up to the mark in the final over which restricted them to 169 in their allotted 20 overs.

McClenaghan and Krunal returned with a couple of wickets as Chennai was restricted to a manageable score.

Mumbai had to get off to a steady start which has been missing in the tournament so far. Suryakumar Yadav carried on a rich vein of form in the tournament so far and began with some exquisite drives and punches of Deepak Chahar and Shardul Thakur.

It was superb batting by Suryakumar. However his partner Evin Lewis was bogged down in the initial stages and was unable to find the gaps or hit the big shots.

Lewis got going in one of the Imran Tahir over where he struck a four and a six.

Meanwhile, Suryakumar Yadav was dismissed by Harbhajan Singh. It was a terrific catch by Ravindra Jadeja in the end which brought about Surya’s downfall.

After a 69-run partnership between the openers, there was yet another solid partnership of 59 runs between skipper Rohit Sharma and Evin Lewis.

Rohit was at his imperious best and eventually proved to be the match winner in the end.

The Chennai bowlers were brilliant from 14 to the 16^th over and made it difficult for Mumbai Indians.

But, Rohit batted brilliantly and turned the complexion of the match. He scored a match-winning 56 at the end of just 33 balls which proved to be the difference between the two teams. He struck four boundaries of Shardul Thakur in the penultimate delivery – to bring the calculation down to five of the final over.

They completed the job with ease in the end as Hardik Pandya struck a boundary to seal the deal for Mumbai.

Here is what Rohit Sharma, also the Player of the Match said at the post-match presentation

“Very much alive. Wanted this win desperately. In desperation, we didn’t want to take decisions that won’t go well. Wanted to stay calm. We’ve played good cricket. But that finishing touch wasn’t happening,” Rohit said at the post-match presentation.

“Today we batted well, bowled well, fielded well. If I look back at it, except the Sunrisers game where we batted poorly. Rest of the games we put on 190-plus. It was just about going in with calm heads. This game will give us confidence going forward. That was very critical (the bowlers’ comeback),” Rohit added.

“For me as a captain, it was important to understand what will be the right combination. We still have a positive atmosphere going forward. Tough leaving out Pollard. He’s done so many good things for us. He took it upon him. Going forward, don’t want to dismiss him completely. He’ll still be our match winner. Not dismissing any players going forward,” Rohit asserted.

“Will be (a) surprise going forward as well. It was the match situation (promotion to No.3). Wanted to get that right-left combination going. They’ve got an off-spinner, left-arm spinner and leg-spinner so we wanted to keep them guessing,” Rohit concluded.

Also, Read: IPL 2018: We Were 15 Runs Short of a Par Total, Says Mahendra Singh Dhoni