Mumbai Indians’ captain Rohit Sharma through the IPL 2023 match towards Delhi Capitals on the Arun Jaitley Cricket Stadium in New Delhi on April 11, 2023.
| Photo Credit: R.V. Moorthy
Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma was a relieved man after his staff lastly registered its first win on this version of the IPL with a six-wicket victory over Delhi Capitals in a last-ball thriller right here on Tuesday.
Five-time champions MI suffered defeats of their first two matches however the Rohit-led aspect lastly pulled off a win after finishing a chase of 173 within the final ball.
“Winning the game is the most important. We have been working hard from the first game. We had a camp in Mumbai, getting the result (in our favour) feels good. First win is always special,” stated Rohit, who was adjudged the Player of the Match for his 45-ball 65, on the post-match presentation.
Piyush Chawla snapped three wickets and Rohit, who launched spinner Hrithik Shokeen within the fourth over, credited the sluggish bowlers for performing their job.
“We played a Test match here recently, the pitch looked different. Getting a slow bowler was important on this pitch. The spinners kept us in the game.”
The India skipper stated as a bating unit his aspect wished to benefit from the powerplay.
“We needed to bat well to chase the total. I thought everyone put their hand up. We had to make it count for the team. I needed to make use of the powerplay, I knew we had to keep attacking and take our chances,” he stated.
“I tried to create a partnership, had a good communication with Tilak. It was important for us to have a good partnership.”
For DC, it was their fourth defeat in as many matches — the second worst begin to a season for them after six straight losses in 2013.
“You look at the last three IPL games, amazing. Wrong end of it today, but the guys were fantastic. Two balls were wrong and that’s the game. We did well to bring it back in,” DC skipper David Warner stated.
Defending 5 runs within the final over, Anrich Nortje dished out a masterclass in dying bowling to virtually pull off a win.
“Nortje is world-class and that’s what we expect from the big fella. Mustafiz too (did well),” he stated.
Warner stated his staff ought to keep away from dropping wickets in a heap.
“I think from the last three games, we’ve some positives but we shouldn’t lose wickets in clumps.” DC posted 172 all out, primarily as a result of 25-ball 54 by Axar Patel, after being invited to bat.
“Axar should bat in the top four; he got us to a par total.”
