Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Hardik Pandya said he wanted batters to take risks in the middle overs and asserted that MI backed themselves to eventually chase the score against Delhi Capitals (DC) at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Saturday. Fraser-McGurk equaled his own record for the fastest fifty in IPL 2024, hitting 87 off 27 balls, laying the foundation for a huge total. DC scored 257 in 20 overs, with cameos from Shai Hope, Rishabh Pant and Tristan Stubbs. MI always seemed to be behind the chase, and Tilak Varma's brave effort was insufficient as Delhi had the upper hand by 10 runs. MI suffered their sixth defeat of the season, putting their play-off ambitions in significant jeopardy.
Pandya said after the match that the match was getting closer.
“This game is getting closer and closer. It used to be a few overs, now it's going to be a few balls. Because of the type of games and the way the bowlers are under pressure, we have backed ourselves to do If I had to pick something out , we could have taken a few more chances in the middle overs,” Pandya said in a post-match presentation.
Pandya defended the decision to bowl first in their loss to DC on Saturday. Pandya won the toss and decided to bowl first as he wanted to know which target they would be chasing. However, the plan quickly failed, as DC got off to a flying start thanks to Jake Fraser-McGurk.
“The left-handers probably could have gone after Axar a bit, it's something we missed in terms of game awareness,” Pandya said.
Pandya complimented Fraser-McGurk on his knock and stated that he would not have changed anything about the toss.
“It was pretty amazing the way he (Fraser-McGurk) batted, he took calculated risks, he played really well on the field. It shows the fearlessness of youth. (If he had done something different at the toss), not really. he added.
Talking about the match, Fraser-McGurk's powerful strike, followed by the quick strike of Rasikh Dar Salam, Mukesh Kumar and Khaleel Ahmed, helped Delhi Capitals (DC) beat Mumbai Indians by 10 runs in their Indian Premier League ( IPL) 2024 match here at Arun Jaitley Stadium on Saturday.
Rasikh was the choice for the home side. He came on as an impact sub and took 3 for 34 in this high-scoring affair, while Mukesh also returned with a three-wicket haul. For MI, Tilak Varma scored 63 points while skipper Hardik Pandya scored 46 points for MI.
Earlier batting first, explosive knocks from DC batters Fraser-McGurk, Tristan Stubbs and Shai Hope guided the team to a mammoth total of 257/4 against five-time champions Mumbai.
Mumbai Indians will play LSG at the Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on Tuesday.
Topics mentioned in this article