Mumbai Indians suffered their second defeat of IPL 2024 after coming up second behind Sunrisers Hyderabad in a run-fest on Wednesday night. Set a record total of 278 to win, MI’s spirited attempt went in vain as they finished at 246/5 and the result saw them drop a spot down to 9th on the points table.
During his post-match interaction with the broadcasters, MI captain Hardik Pandya appeared calm and content as the picked the positives on which his team can build on their campaign henceforth but did admit they could have done a few things differently though against SRH.
“The wicket was good but 277, no matter how good or bad you bowl, if the opposition has scored 277 that means they batted well,” Pandya said.
Barring Jasprit Bumrah, all MI bowlers conceded over 10 runs per over. However, Pandya, who himself was taken for 46 runs in his four overs, pointed out how the pitch was more conducive for batting.
“They (bowlers) were good. It was tough out there. Almost 500 runs were scored so the wicket was helping the batters. We could have tried a few different things. Having said that, we have a young bowling attack and I liked what I saw today. We will learn,” he said.
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MI slipped in the slog overs in their chase and Pandya seemed happy with how the top-order batters performed. Tilak Varma was the top-scorer for the five-time IPL champions, hitting 64 off 34.
“Everyone batted really well – Tilak, Ro (Rohit Sharma), Ishan (Kishan). There are just few things we need to do right and we’ll be alright,” Pandya said.
MI gave debut to South Africa’s U19 World Cup star Kwena Maphaka who had a forgettable outing as he leaked 66 runs in four wicketless over – the most expensive spell by a debutant in IPL history.
“I think he (Maphaka) was fantastic you know. 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 skillsets and that’s something that’s fantastic. He has the skillset, just that he needs some game time,” Pandya said.
The 30-year-old also touched upon the challenge of bowling within the stipulated time period considering how frequently the ball went into the stands on Wednesday.
“If the ball goes this much in the crowd, it’s definitely difficult to run around and complete the overs in time,” Pandya said.
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