It Was High Time For The Middle-Order To Perform Well: Manish Pandey

Manish Pandey brought up a whirlwind half-century as SunRisers Hyderabad coasted to an eight-wicket victory over Rajasthan Royals in Dubai. Manish Pandey combined for a 140-run stand with Vijay Shankar as their half-centuries were enough for the SunRisers Hyderabad despite failures from David Warner and Jonny Bairstow. For his innings of 83, he received the man of the match.

Rajasthan Royals could not capitalise on the breezy start provided by Robin Uthappa as his needless run-out cost the Royals quick runs. Ben Stokes, in particular, found it hard to get going as he consumed 32 balls for his 30 runs. The likes of Jos Buttler, Steve Smith, Riyan Parag could not provide the final flourish as it ended with 154 in 20 overs.

Manish Pandey arrived in the third over as Jofra Archer’s tail was up and in full swing. However, the Royals bowlers could not keep the foot on the pedal as they delivered plenty of looseners initially that helped settle Manish Pandey. There was also dew on offer, which made the bowlers’ job further challenging with Manish Pandey and Vijay Shankar set.

“Our plan was to see Jofra off even if Jofra Archer had bowled a third” : Manish Pandey

Manish Pandey, who face Jofra Archer initially, claimed that they planned to see him off even if he came for a third over. The right-handed batsman underlined that the middle-order had to perform after capitulating on multiple occasions and mainly with their two best batsmen perishing early. Pandey revealed that when he middled the first ball, he knew if he kept his shape, he could dominate the powerplay and finish it before the final over.

“Enough talks had happened around the middle order. High time for us to perform. Had a word with Laxman sir and the coaches. Didn’t want too many thoughts. Just hold my shape and play my shots. Two really good batsmen that we lost, but as someone said, this was an opportunity for us to win the game. And it was long due. Our plan was to see Jofra off even if he had bowled a third. We had two leggies and a couple of Indian fast bowlers to go after. I just middled the first ball, and automatically I thought if I keep my shape and use the Powerplay, I could finish this well before the final over,” Pandey told in the post-match presentation.

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