Mumbai, May 22: Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya on Wednesday lauded the exceptional bowling skills of Mitchell Santner and Jasprit Bumrah, saying they makes his job as captain a lot easier.
After MI posted a competitive 180 for five, built around Suryakumar Yadav’s unbeaten 73 off 43 balls, Santner (3/11) and Bumrah (3/12) shared six wickets to skittle out Delhi Capitals for 121 in 18.2 overs.
“I can throw the ball whenever I want, they bring such control and perfection which makes my job very easy,” said Pandya at the post-match presentation as rain lashed the Wankhede Stadium.
“We would’ve been very happy to get 160 but the way Naman and Surya finished it. Especially Naman, to come out and just hit on a difficult track was outstanding.”
Naman Dhir smashed 24 off just eight balls, including two sixes and two fours, to provide the late flourish.
Knocked out of title contention, Delhi Capitals’ stand-in skipper Faf du Plessis said their failure to qualify for the IPL playoffs was a reflection of a faltering campaign.
DC were eliminated after failing to chase 181, crumbling to 121 all out for a massive 59-run defeat.
“If you looked at the two teams before today’s fixture, it was a case of David and Goliath, I enjoy that because it gives guys the opportunity to really play together as a team,” du Plessis said.
“Rizvi today showed some signs, he’s got some talent there. When you’re playing against a powerful team like this, you need to be at your best all the time and unfortunately for 17-18 overs we were and then the last two overs we were pretty average.
“With the bat, we needed a good start on a surface like that and we didn’t get going at all. Sums up pretty much our season, we’ve been cold in either batting or bowling in the last 6-7 games. To be in the top four in the IPL, you can’t afford to do that.”(PTI)
