Suryakumar Yadav, who had scored just 16 runs in his previous three IPL games, turned things around on Sunday with a brilliant 43 as Mumbai Indians beat Kolkata Knight Riders by five wickets because of his laid-back attitude.
Suryakumar Yadav, who had scored just 16 runs in his previous three IPL games, turned things around on Sunday with a brilliant 43 as Mumbai Indians beat Kolkata Knight Riders by five wickets because of his laid-back attitude.
Suryakumar, the world’s number one T20I batter, had scores of 15, 1, and 0 before his 25-ball knock of 43, which had four boundaries and three sixes.
“I relaxed and had an easy walk to the wicket, took my time for the first 6-7 balls. And then I thought if I get my eye in I can take it forward,”
Suryakumar, who stood in for regular captain Rohit Sharma, said.
“We just need to bat smart in the first 7-10 overs and later on we know what kind of firepower we have. We just did the same thing today and hopefully; we carry it forward into the next few games.”
He said that the squad discussed the need to maintain the momentum from the previous game’s victory in the dugout.
“The boys put on a show. I would have loved to finish the game but I was very happy with the way the team played.
“In the afternoon we thought the wicket was a little dry, but the way the guys batted it settled down in the evening. At the Wankhede, in day games, 160-170 is a good score but Kishan got us off to a great start.”
Ishan Kishan set up the victorious run chase with a 25-ball 58 that included five boundaries and as many sixes at the top of the order.
Suryakumar also lauded Piyush Chawla (1/19 from 4 overs) for his “legendary spell” during the KKR innings.
“He put his hand up under pressure.”
KKR captain Nitish Rana was not happy with the performance of his bowling unit.
“I think we could have bowled better in the power play. I want my bowling unit to deliver more. One or two matches are fine, but it’s been five games now,”
he said without mincing any words.
“People can have off days, but on back-to-back games, it hurts as a unit. But we will talk about it and hopefully, we can bounce back.”
Rana said his side was 15-20 runs short.
“Credit to PC Bhai (Piyush Chawla) for the way he bowled. I feel quite bad for Venky. You play so well, score a century in a day game in Mumbai and you end up on the losing side. I feel bad for him.
“If our best bowlers are going for runs, there’s not much to say. The way Ishan played against Narine.”
KKR’s Venkatesh Iyer, who was named player of the match for his 51-ball 104, said, “Would have been happier if we would have finished on the winning note but pleased with my effort.
“That’s the role given to me by the management and it’s my job to repay them. Obviously, it was a very beautiful wicket to bat on. Once you score those 30-40 runs, it gets easy to score. Really happy to get a hundred.”
Iyer said his game plan was not to allow the MI new ball attack to settle down.
“Once you allow them to settle down, it gets difficult. So I just didn’t want to let them settle. Once the swing goes away, it gets easier to play them.
“Once you’re out there doing something for the team, you forget all the pain. The wicket was nice and I was enjoying myself out there,”
he said when asked about some knocks on his body.
“In hindsight, I think we did score 15-20 runs less, and the way MI was going, they could have scored it in another over but yeah, we were a little short.”
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