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IPL 2018: R Ashwin says Jasprit Bumrah made the difference for Mumbai Indians
Jasprit Bumrah’s spell of 1/19 proved vital in Mumbai Indians’ six-wicket win over Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018 at the Holkar Stadium, Indore on Friday.
On an evening when almost all his team-mates went for over eight runs per over, Jasprit Bumrah conceded only one six to end with figures of 1/19. At a ground with short boundaries, Bumrah’s 11 dot balls proved vital in Mumbai Indians’ six-wicket win over Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League at the Holkar Stadium, Indore on Friday. (Match report)
R Ashwin, KXIP skipper, was all praise for the MI fast bowler. “He (Bumrah) bowled really well. You can say he made the difference. He did well in the death overs and didn’t leak a lot of runs in the powerplay when (Chris) Gayle was batting.” (Highlights) (Scorecard)
Asked to bat, Chris Gayle (50) and KL Rahul (24) added yet another fifty plus stand but KXIP’s middle-order once again failed to capitalise. Yuvraj Singh, promoted to No. 3, managed just 14 while Karun Nair (23) and Axar Patel (13) also couldn’t do much.
Same was the case in KXIP’s game against Sunrisers Hyderabad last week (April 26). The openers had stitched a 55-run stand before the middle-order caved in against the formidable SRH bowling attack, losing by 13 runs while chasing a modest 132 at Hyderabad.
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Ashwin admitted that KXIP were at least 10-15 runs short but backed the likes of Yuvraj, Axar to fire in the upcoming games.
“We were about 10-15 runs short. The wicket was a bit sticky early on. I thought 180+ would be a good score but we lost wickets in the middle overs. Gayle set it up with his knock and but we couldn’t finish well.
“Yes, the middle-order has been a bit shaky but it’s important to have faith in them,” he added.
Fast bowler Ankit Rajpoot, who took a five-wicket haul against SRH, and Marcus Stoinis, leaked a combined 68 runs from six overs. Mujeeb Zadran took two wickets while Andrew Tye and Stoinis took a scalp each.
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Asked about the team’s bowling performance, Ashwin, who finished with figures of 0/23, said: “I thought we bowled well for most part of the innings. You can say we erred in length in the 17th, 18th and the 19th over. It does happen sometimes.
“I don’t think we played bad cricket. It (Indore) is a difficult ground to defend. We had a good chance till the 15th over but Rohit (Sharma) was there till the end for MI. There aren’t a lot of games MI lose when Rohit Sharma stays till the end,” he concluded.
