Mumbai’s sensational victory doesn’t suprise Jayawardene
mumbai — Mumbai Indians coach Mahela Jayawardene said he has seen enough T20 cricket not to be surprised by the manner in which his side pulled off a sensational four-wicket victory in an IPL game against Kolkata Knight Riders.
“It’s a funny game. I have seen enough T20 cricket, it happens. A bit of pressure and a few good shots created this opportunity for us,” Jayawardene said.
MI snatched victory from the jaws of defeat, overhauling KKR’s challenging score of 178 with one ball to spare at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday. “You always need to have that belief, happy that players had that belief. It was brilliant,” said the stylish former Sri Lanka batsman and captain.
He also praised the display of the side’s two young Indian players — Nitish Rana of Delhi and Hardik Pandya of Baroda — who pulled off the memorable win.
“I am pretty pleased and I am glad two young players carried us through. Nitish anchored the innings and took the game deep and Hardik came in and finished the job,” said Jayawardene. Rana made 50 in 29 balls to put MI well in sight of victory before departing in the penultimate over. Pandya finished the job with a four to long leg off the fifth ball of the last over to remain unbeaten on a 11-ball 29.
“It was important to get points
Nitish anchored the innings and took the game deep and Hardik came in and finished the job Mahela Jayawardene
on board. Boys played well. After losing the first game, to come back that way showed character and quality. Even in the last game we did not give up and took it deep. I am happy, it was brilliant,” said Jayawardene, referring to his side’s opening game loss to Rising Pune Supergiant on April 6.
“We are flexible in batting order to have left-right combination. We back them even if they fail. Little things, we are trying to do right. Nitish is a very talented player and showed a lot of quality today, hopefully we can see more of that from him,” he added. “We can’t keep playing in same pattern. (Team captain) Rohit (Sharma) is coming back from injury. You might be surprised if in some of the games he comes in and opens,” he said. — PTI