This IPL so far has yielded some profusely weird results. The iconic Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, which used to be a fortress for the Mumbai Indians, now has turned into their weak spot. In their second home game, the Mumbai Indians were defeated in a last ball thriller by the Gujarat Lions, as IPL 2016 witnessed its first last ball finish.
After being put into bat by Suresh Raina, the Mumbai Indians got off to a terrible start as skipper Rohit Sharma was dismissed early. Parthiv Patel displayed some resistance, but to no avail as his knock ended on 34. Thanks to some brief lower order contributions, mainly from debutant Krunal Pandya, the hosts managed to get to 143 in 20 overs. Gujarat too didn’t have an ideal start, but Aaron Finch was determined to see his side through. Despite struggling from cramps, Finch managed to get the Lions home and mark their third straight win.
In the post match presentation, skipper Mumbai skipper Rohit Sharma admitted that his batting had let him down. “I think we didn’t put enough runs on the board. I don’t think we can afford to do that. I think 144 was always going to be a difficult total to defend. Our bowlers did well. We, though, have to accept and move forward. We just didn’t bat well and didn’t put enough runs on the board,” said Sharma.
“We need to bat well. It has been twice that we have let ourselves down,” Sharma continued. We need to put runs on the board to defend. It starts from the top. If we lose 3-4 wickets up front, it becomes difficult. They have very good bowlers. Krunal and Southee though, kept us in the game.”
Man of the Match Aaron Finch said that he was glad about the win and mentioned the last over the boundary from Dhawal Kulkarni as a vital point in the game. “It was nice to take it over till the end and finish the job. Well, Dhawal Kulkarni smashing one over mid-off was great and it took the pressure off. We have not taken wickets with the new ball. The way Praveen and Dhawal bowled today was fantastic. It was a fantastic win and nice to get three wins in a row,” said Finch.