Follow UsOn March 27 (Wednesday), Mumbai Indians (MI) had their worst ever outing with the ball as the five-time champions conceded an eye-watering 277 to a rampant Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) batting line-up.
It was truly a day to forget with the ball for MI, who not only conceded the highest ever total in IPL history but also conceded the most number of sixes in a match in their history, leaked the most runs they’ve ever done in the 7-15 phase and got tonked for 81 runs in the powerplay, the second-worst showing with the new ball in their history.
Positives with the ball were few and far between, but the side’s skipper Hardik Pandya sounded upbeat post the SRH defeat, vowing that the inexperienced MI attack will bounce back. All bowlers barring Jasprit Bumrah had a game to forget, but Pandya asserted that he ‘liked what he saw’ from the MI bowlers.
“Our bowlers were good. It was tough out there. Close to 500 runs were scored so the wicket was helping the batters. We could have tried a few different things, but we have a young bowling attack and I liked what I saw today,” Pandya said at the post-match presentation.
“The wicket was good but 277, no matter how good or bad you bowl, if the opposition get 277 that means they batted very well.”
But while MI might have had a day to forget with the ball in hand, their batters nearly pulled off the impossible. Mumbai eventually fell short by just 31 runs, but were at one point very much in the contest. The top-order blasted 141 runs in the first 10 overs and set the team up for a historic chase.
The chase didn’t ultimately happen, but Pandya was full of praise for his batters.
“Everyone (the batters) looked good and it is just a matter of time before we put things right,” Pandya said.
On the night, most bowlers had a rough outing but the individual who had the roughest outing of all was 17-year-old Kwena Maphaka. At 7:30 PM IST, Maphaka became the youngest debutant in MI history but what was supposed to be a memorable night turned into a horrendous one for the youngster, who finished with figures of 0/66, the worst ever for any IPL debutant.
Pandya backed Maphaka in the game by not only giving him the new ball, but making him bowl all four overs. The MI skipper backed the youngster post the game too.
“I think he was fantastic,” Pandya said of Maphaka.
“Coming into your first game and getting overwhelmed by this kind of crowd and he showed he had the heart. Even though he went for runs, he looked alright, he wanted to back his skillset and that's something that's fantastic. He has the skillset, just that he needs some game time."
SRH skipper Pat Cummins, meanwhile, admitted that the game went closer than he expected, with MI falling just 31 runs short despite chasing 278. He said post the game that his side did not aim for 270, but were clear that they aimed to get as many runs as they could.
“... it got a bit too close for comfort. They found a boundary whenever they needed it, but we finished it off well,” Cummins said.
“You never play for 270, but we wanted to be positive and be aggressive, take the game on. It was a good wicket, so we have to suck it up knowing we would go for a few boundaries. What's important is to have clear plans with the ball.”