For a majority of the 40 overs, Mumbai Indians had the game well in control against the Delhi Daredevils. However, towards the last few overs of Mumbai’s chase, Rohit Sharma’s outfit lost momentum, which ultimately led to their downfall. Skipper Rohit Sharma himself couldn’t get going in the middle overs as the Delhi bowlers went about their task with extreme accuracy and great precision.
The stand between Rohit Sharma and Krunal Pandya put the game in Mumbai’s favor before Pandya was run out. Explosive names like Jos Buttler and Kieron Pollard got stuck in and against the likes of Amit Mishra and Zaheer Khan, found it difficult to score the needed runs. Sharma himself was left stranded as he lost partners frequently and didn’t get enough strike.
Post the game; Mumbai Indians coach Ricky Ponting stated that Rohit’s inability to score freely in the middle overs hurt his side’s chances. “Rohit just couldn’t get going in the middle stages of the innings. From the sidelines, it felt like he was a bit deprived of the strike as well and momentum just stopped a little bit. Mishra bowled a great spell and then Morris at the end with his yorkers was very good. I think we went for 17 from our last bowling over as well, and these games are decided by small margins. Tonight, we were just a little bit off at crucial times and that probably cost us the game,” said Ponting.
“It felt like we had control of that game for most of the 40 overs. Even with the ball, it didn’t feel like it got away from us at any stage until I guess, the last couple of overs,” Ponting said. “We were well ahead in our batting and in the Powerplay, we were 50-odd, so we were well ahead at that stage, and we had wickets in hand,” the Mumbai Indians coach felt.
Ponting though fully praised all-rounder Krunal Pandya for his explosive batting and said, “He was going well at that stage. I had sent him in to try and attack the leg spin and he did that well. It forced Zaheer to bring himself back and an over of Mohammed Shami as well. Tactically, it worked well and he’s a fearless young player. A couple of times he’s had an opportunity early in the innings, he’s done really well for us. That Pandya run-out was costly, but you can never put your finger on one instance in a T20 that cost you the game.”