PC: google
Mumbai Indians lost their second match on the trot in IPL 2024 as they failed to chase a record target of 278 runs in 20 overs and fell short by 31 runs. The team fought well led by Tilak Varma who scored an attacking fifty and was well supported by Naman Dhir.
A Strange Innings
But once Tilak got out it seemed like MI gave up the hopes of chasing the target courtesy of a relatively slow innings from captain Hardik Pandya who scored 24 runs off 20 balls in a match where every batter was scoring at a strike rate of more than 200.
The Reaction
As expected Hardik was heavily criticized by experts for his sluggish innings. Reacting to Hardik’s innings Manoj Tiwary said “If you look at the strike rate of MI batters… Hardik Pandya is a big-hitting player, but he struck at only 120.
Yes, the bowling was good at that time, but one thing that irked me was the shots he hit against back-of-length. He was hitting the shots down the ground,” Tiwary told Cricbuzz.
Expert’s Corner
“Generally, when the asking rate is 14-15, and you have such a big player, you’d want them to at least try for a six. Attempting to get a single or two, or even a four, wasn’t the demand of the situation. That irked me. And that shows he is not in good form. In the last match, he did start well but was dismissed. We have seen that he has rescued the team on many occasions.”
The Match
Choosing to bowl first after winning the toss MI bowlers were clobbered all around the park by the SRH batters led by Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, and Henrich Klaasen all of whom scored quickfire fifties.
Among all the carnage the one bowler who stood apart for MI was Jasprit Bumrah as he conceded less than ten runs per over on a surface where every bowler traveled the distance
The Points Table
MI slipped to the ninth spot in the points table following the defeat while SRH climbed to the third spot with one win and one loss after two matches
Also check :-
