IPL 2019: Match 9 – KXIP vs MI – Who Said What

After losing the last match against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) made a stupendous comeback as they beat Mumbai Indians (MI) by eight wickets at the PCA Stadium in Mohali. Prior to this, they won only a couple of games at the venue and this victory would come as a massive morale-booster for them. Meanwhile, Mumbai lost their maiden away game of this edition’s IPL.

De Kock steadies the ship

After being put in to bat first, the visiting team raced away to 176 for seven in 20 overs. Skipper Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock took their team off to a superlative start with a stand of 51 runs from 32 balls. Speedster Hardus Viljoen nipped out Sharma to give Punjab their first breakthrough. Suryakumar Yadav and Yuvraj Singh promised with two fours each, but both couldn’t convert their starts.

At the other end, De Kock looked at utmost ease and he got to his half-century without much trouble. The South African wicketkeeper-batsman ended with 60 from 39 balls with six fours and a couple of over-boundaries. Kieron Pollard was dismissed cheaply once again. In the end, Hardik Pandya came to the party and churned out a whirlwind knock of 31 runs that propelled Mumbai Indians’ score.

Rahul holds his nerve in pressure

KL Rahul and Chris Gayle took their team off to a steady start with a partnership of 53 runs from 44 deliveries. Even as Rahul took his team in the beginning, Gayle went after the bowling right from the outset. The Jamaican blazed away to 40 runs from 24 balls with three fours and four over-boundaries. The hulk-like batter fell prey to Krunal Pandya after he tried to clear the ropes of the spinner.

Thereafter, Mayank Agarwal came out firing on all cylinders and scored a brisk 43 from 21 balls to inject momentum into the innings. He smacked four fours and two sixes in his knock. After his dismissal, Rahul picked up the pace and got the scoreboard moving. He racked up a well-compiled fifty and even remained not out on 71 with six fours and one six. David Miller chipped in with a 10-ball 15.

Mayank Agarwal, the Man of the Match, said

I think it’s a great feeling to get two points on the board. Very, very important to win the first home game and we can create some momentum now. It is very pleasing. And obviously, the year that I’ve had gives me a lot of confidence. Also, playing for India gave me a lot of confidence. Different outlook and now, with that outlook, when I’m playing the IPL, it’s a lot more easier.

He’s just thinking I need to find ways to win the game for the side (on asked what Mayank Agarwal 2.0 was thinking). If I’m batting at three and if you’re batting first, try and take the game as long as we can. And, if we are chasing, try and finish the game. Didn’t happen today but we had a plan that we would go out and attack them in the middle. I’m glad it came off.

(Talking through his dismissal) Well, it was a little pre-meditated that I was trying to go after Krunal and wanted to hit it over his head. But you know, a short ball; predecided, I actually should have hit it to mid-wicket. But, I hit straight into his hand.

Ravi Ashwin, the KXIP captain, said

No, not really (when asked if it was the beginning of fortress in Mohali). I thought we played a very good game and like I said, we were pretty composed every after the game at (against) KKR. We thought we could definitely use that momentum in terms of how we batted out there and bring it out there. It’s like a marathon. You don’t run it in one day, right? So, obviously, we have to keep our emotions straight.

Ya, of course, if you had to be hard, we gave 10 runs more than what we should have (if he was happy about pulling things back). That’s the way we see it and that’s the way we want to take this team forward and hopefully, we can correct all those things. As the night falls, there is dew in the ground. We have to be more hard on ourselves as a bowling unit.

No not really (on what he told the batsmen at the halfway stage). They are very experienced campaigners. Especially, we had quite a bit of time here at Mohali. They know the pitch really well. Especially, at the sort of a time where they know that the dew is going to set in and the wicket gets better. They paced it beautifully and we had our strategies planned for how we are going to go about the first six (overs) against Mumbai and it came out beautifully for us.

(On Mayank Agarwal) I just hope he goes on from strength to strength from here on. He’s had a fabulous year and he has been striking the ball really well. I think he’s been a touch unlucky when it comes to the IPL but I think this is going to be his year.

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