IPL 2024: With Smile On His Face, Hardik Pandya’s Cold Take On MI’s Flop Show

Following his side’s loss to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Mumbai Indians (MI) skipper Hardik Pandya admitted that his side could not capitalise on momentum given by opening batters Ishan Kishan and Rohit Sharma on a “tacky” wicket. KKR became the first team to qualify for IPL playoffs after a solid knock from Venkatesh Iyer and an all-round show by Andre Russell along with a fine performance by spinners helped them secure an 18-run win against MI at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Saturday.

Speaking at the post-match presentation, Hardik said, “As a batting unit, the foundation was there but we could not capitalize after that and keep the momentum up. The wicket was a little up and down and a little tacky so momentum was very important. I think it was a par score, given the conditions, felt that the bowlers did well. Every ball that came back from the boundary came back wet. The bowlers made sure they kept taking wickets. (On his thoughts for the next game) Nothing, just to go and enjoy as much as we can and play good cricket, that’s been my motto from the start. I do not think we have played enough good cricket this season.”

Coming to the match, it was restricted to a 16-over-per-side affair due to rain. MI opted to field first after winning the toss.

Following early loss of openers Phil Salt and Sunil Narine, valuable knocks came from Venkatesh Iyer (42 in 21 balls, with six fours and two sixes), Nitish Rana (33 in 23 balls, with four boundaries and a six), Andre Russell (24 in 14 balls, with two fours and two sixes) and Rinku Singh (20 in 12 balls, with two sixes), helped KKR reach 157/7 in the 16 overs.

Piyush Chawla (2/28) and Jasprit Bumrah (2/39) were the top bowlers for MI.

In the run-chase, Ishan Kishan (40 in 22 balls, with five fours and two sixes) and Rohit Sharma (19 in 24 balls, with a four and six) started with a fine 65-run opening stand. However, KKR soon restricted the run of flow and took wickets. Tilak Varma (32 in 17 balls, with five fours and a six) and Naman Dhir (17 in six balls, with a four and two sixes) put up a fight, but MI fell short by 18 runs, ending at 139/8 in their 16 overs.

Varun Chakravarthy (2/17) was the top bowler for KKR. Andre Russell and Harshit Rana (2/34) also did fine with the ball.

KKR is at the top of the points table, with nine wins and three losses, with 18 points. MI is at the bottom with four wins and nine losses, giving them eight points.

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