IPL 2021: It was a great bowling effort from the bowling unit – Rohit Sharma

Mumbai Indians have defended totals of 152 and 150 in their last two matches and all the credit goes to their potent bowling line-up. Sunrisers Hyderabad was cruising to their target of 151 runs as they were 90-2 after 11.2 overs but lost their last eight wickets for only 47 runs to bundle out for 137 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai on Saturday.

Rahul Chahar was once again brilliant with the ball as he scalped 3-19 in his quota of four overs. The leg-spinner dismissed Manish Pandey, Abhishek Sharma, and Virat Singh. On the other hand, Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult were at their lethal best at the fag end of the innings.

Trent Boult returned with three wickets whereas Jasprit Bumrah conceded only 14 runs in his quota of four overs and also took a wicket.

It was the fourth time in Bumrah’s IPL career when he didn’t even concede a boundary in his allotted four overs. Both the MI fast bowlers have been doing a fine job in the powerplay as well as the death overs. In fact, Boult was taken for 18 runs in his second over by Jonny Bairstow but he made a roaring comeback in his second spell.

The Orange Army required 31 runs off the last four overs with five wickets remaining but they had their task cut out as Boult and Bumrah didn’t give any scoring opportunities and kept SRH batsmen on the leash. Bumrah took the crucial wicket of Vijay Shankar whereas Boult dismissed Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Khaleel Ahmed.

Meanwhile, Mumbai Indians have stolen two wins from the jaws of defeat as they were behind the eighth-ball against Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad and the credit goes to their potent bowling line. Boult has scalped six wickets whereas Bumrah has snared three wickets so far.

Thus, Mumbai Indians have come up with a collective effort with the ball and they have done a fine job in defending sub-par totals.

Rohit Sharma said at the post-match presentation, “It was a great effort from the bowling unit. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy. On that pitch, when you’re bowling well, it’s not easy. I thought it was a good score on that pitch. You saw from both the teams, trying to capitalize on the powerplay. Having said that, I think we can bat better in the middle overs. All these guys have played a lot of cricket on pitches like these. So, there are areas to work on. At the same time, don’t want to be too harsh on the guys. I think the pitch gets slower and slower. Rahul was turning the ball in his fourth over, which was the 12th or 13th over. That doesn’t happen in Mumbai. The ball was reversing as well. The slowishness of the deck doesn’t allow batsmen to come and slog straightaway”.

MI will play their next match against Delhi Capitals at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai on 20th April.