Quinton de Kock, the opening batsman of Mumbai Indians, scored a quick 53 off 36 balls and was well supported by Suryakumar Yadav who scored the same 53 off 32 balls. Their identical scores helped MI clinch victory against Delhi Capitals by five wickets while chasing 163.
Quinton de Kock who is also wicket-keeper hit four fours and three sixes while Suryakumar Yadav hit six boundaries and a solitary six. They had a partnership of 46 runs for the 2nd wicket while Suryakumar and Ishan Kishan had a partnership of 53 runs for the third wicket. Ishan Kishan also scored a brisk 28 off only 15 balls after Delhi riding on Shikhar Dhawan’s unbeaten 69 posted 162/4.
Quinton de Kock and Suryakumar Yadav accessed the situation:
Quinton de Kock, however, said that he was not that brave enough to try out the shots of Suryakumar Yadav. De Kock fell for 53 in the 10th over while Suryakumar Yadav carried on to the 15th over. Both were dismissed for identical scores as MI displaced DC from the top of the table.
“When Surya came in, we just naturally assessed what we are dealing with out there, it did help when he walked out there, he had intent and he was off with a flier. It kept me a lot more relaxed, we complimented each other really well,” Quinton de Kock said in a video posted on iplt20.com.
“I wish I could reverse-lap Jofra Archer, that’s about it. Don’t think I am brave enough to play the shots Suryakumar plays. To be honest, I wasn’t looking to take Anrich Nortje on, it was a matter of just seizing the opportunity when I had it. Fortunately, there were one-two balls I was able to go after,” he added.
Batting first, Delhi Capitals scored 162/4 in the stipulated twenty overs, owing to an unbeaten 69-run knock by opener Shikhar Dhawan. For Mumbai Indians, spinner all-rounder Krunal Pandya returned with the figures of 2-26 in his four overs. Jasprit Bumrah too conceded only 26 runs but went wicketless.
Quinton de Kock on team confidence:
While batting, Mumbai Indians lost skipper Rohit Sharma early. Still, Suryakumar Yadav, Quinton de Kock and Ishan Kishan scored runs by attacking the bowlers of DC, particularly inexperienced Harshal Patel and Marcus Stoinis who had an off day.
“We had realized Rabada is one guy we need to keep our eyes for. He is bowling really well at the moment and he just naturally takes wickets. I did not look to go after him, that’s it. We as a team keep it simple, we try to play to our strengths. We have a little bit of momentum now, we have good players in our team and having confidence in each other helps us,” de Kock said.
Kagiso Rabada picked up two wickets and conceded 28 runs and consolidated his position at the top of the wicket-takers list in IPL 2020 with 17 wickets in seven matches averaging only 12.52.