IPL 10: Match 34, Who Said What: Gujarat Lions v Mumbai Indians

Gujarat Lions hosted the Mumbai Indians at Rajkot tonight and the spectators were treated to an epic encounter. None of the two teams deserved to lose but it was the visitors who held their nerves to win the match. Earlier tonight, the Lions won the toss and elected to bat first. The Mumbai bowling line-up restricted the batting heavy home side to 153.

Ishan Kishan lit the Rajkot crowd while opening. He played some of the most outrageous shots to score his 35-ball 48. None of the celebrated personnel in the Gujarat middle order gave support to the youngster. Ravindra Jadeja, James Faulker and Andrew Tye provided the much-needed impetus towards the end of the innings to power towards a total of 153.

Krunal Pandya was the best of the bowlers as he gave away only 14 runs and picked up three wickets. Malinga and Bumrah picked up a couple each to keep a check on the proceedings. Chasing the target 153 was made difficult by the Gujarat Lions bowlers.

Parthiv Patel, yet again, impressed at the top of the order as he scored a 44-ball 70. But things changed drastically after his dismissal as it caused a collapse in the batting unit. Only, Krunal Pandya displayed some sort of fight with his 29, but could not finish the game for his side with 11 needed off the last over. It was the fielders who picked up the most number of wickets with four direct hits which changed the course of the game. Basil Thampi did his bit by picking up three wickets.

The match went down to a super over as both teams were tied at 153. Kieron Pollard hit a couple from the middle to post a target of 12 runs for the Lions. In the end, it was the hero of the match for Mumbai Indians, Jasprit Bumrah, who stood up with his brilliant death bowling under pressure. He conceded only 6 runs in 8 balls as Mumbai went on to win the match. Krunal was adjudged as the man of the match for his bowling.

Krunal Pandya

The elder Pandya believes that he has to take additional responsibility being an all-rounder in the team. He also took it upon himself to finish the game for his side. Pandya concluded by explaining his strategy at the ultimate over of the chase.

I feel I am an allrounder and need to contribute with bat, ball and in the field. Need to think as a batsman while batting and as a bowler while bowling. It wasn’t an easy wicket, you couldn’t simply go and start playing your shots straightaway. I knew that I had to stay until the end and steer the team home. I wanted to go after the first two balls of the last over (20th), that six helped me. When we needed 2 from 2, I just wanted to go for a single and let Malinga get the other run. I just told him the same, I didn’t want to take a risk in the fifth ball.

Rohit Sharma

The Mumbai Indians skipper cited that it was an exciting game to be a part of. He lauded the effort of Krunal Pandya who took the game deep. Even though they were in a comfortable position in the end of 10 overs, Mumbai lost their way in the latter half of the innings. Rohit concluded by saying that the team would take a lot of heart out of the hard fought win.

Very good birthday present, great game of cricket. Never been part of Super Over, that’s something we have learnt as well. We got off to a good start, were sitting pretty until the 10th over, knew the wicket was getting slower and the target was going to be tough. We knew they would bowl well, losing wickets wasn’t great, but Krunal did very well to stay till the end. We wanted to build partnerships, but after the first wicket, we didn’t get those, it was a slight let-down. Conditions keep changing, we have to adapt. Never expected the wicket to be so slow, hats off to the guys who kept us in the game. Momentum plays a big part, the last match – we lost by 3 runs, we have great talent, it’s just about playing to our potential, it was a tough match, but we kept ourselves ahead.

Suresh Raina 

Raina started off by stating how big an honour it was to be a part of an enthralling match. He was impressed at the way the Bumrah bowled during the super over, with his reverse swing, yorkers and slower deliveries which still bamboozles even the greatest players.

The GL skipper remarked that a lot of positives can be taken out of the match even though the result did not go in their favour. Raina concluded by thanking the crowd and the Saurashtra administration for their support during all the matches held at Rajkot.

Heart is fine. One of the most important games I’ve been part of. A very exciting game for crowd and every player. I think Bumrah bowled really well. Needing 12 off one over when he bowls yorkers and reverse-swings, we can’t do much. Wicket was a bit slow. We tried to go really hard early and lost a couple of wickets upfront. The bowlers bowled really well. We came back really strongly. Credit goes to Mumbai Indians. They played really well. Honestly, we were 30-40 runs short. Our bowlers came back strongly. I haven’t seen what has happened (when asked about Tye’s injury). I gotta see what happened when I go to the dressing room. We did really well although we ended up on the losing end. It was a great game. Thanks to all the Gujaratis for their support and also to the Saurashtra Cricket Asociation.