Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma heaped praise on his bowling unit for turning things around against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Saturday.
Chasing a modest 150-run total, the Hyderabad outfit suffered yet another collapse and were bundled out for 137 on Chepauk surface. Rahul Chahar and Trent Boult picked three wickets each as SRH lost seven wickets for 35 runs in the last six overs. The defending champions put up a spirited performance on the field to clinch the tie by 13 runs.
"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 capitalise on the powerplay. Having said that, I think we can bat better in the middle overs," said Rohit at the post-match presentation.
"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," he added.
The winning skipper also lauded Kieron Pollard's 22-ball 35 which helped Mumbai post a competitive total on the scoreboard. The West Indies dasher smoked two sixes off the last two deliveries of the innings which eventually made the difference.
"Polly has done it for so many years for us at the back end. We have confidence in him. It's all about him getting some time in the middle. Our fielding was really good tonight, that's something we take pride in. Those run-outs and also the catches," concluded Rohit as MI climbed to the top of the points table with three wins in two games.
