Defending a total as small as 130, Mumbai Indians had a task at hand in the final of the Indian Premier League. Rising Pune Supergiant were on course to win the title needing 13 to win in the last over and a boundary off the first ball.
But the bowlers, especially the pace trio of Lasith Malinga, Jasprit Bumrah and Mitchell Johnson, held their nerve and pulled off an incredible one-run win under pressure. It was a question of self-belief and captain Rohit Sharma said after the match that he always had faith in his pacers to deliver in crunch situation.
“There was assistance from the pitch, so it was a matter of exploiting the conditions. When three overs were left, I had confidence in the bowlers. They have always done the job wherever they’ve played. It was about giving freedom to them because they’re the masters and they’ve done it before. I just told them to do whatever they want and set the field accordingly,” Rohit said after the match.
Talking about the nerves going around in the close final overs, he revealed what he told his team before the chase began.
“I’m calm now. It was a great game of cricket. I’m sure the spectators enjoyed it. To be able to defend a score like this was a brilliant effort, I couldn’t ask for more. Whenever you’re defending a total like that, the first thing you’e to do is believe. I told the boys if we could do it against KKR (105) there was no way we couldn’t do it here,” he added.
Bumrah, who finished with solid figures of 2 for 26 in four overs, was all praise for his pace compnaions. “The way we fought was absolutely amazing. We thought we can defend, we have the bowlers,” he said.
“In the second last over I gave a six and I was a little worried if we could still come back,” Bumrah told iplt20.com. “But the way Mitchell Johnson bowled that last over was unbelievable. It is during situations like these that experience matters and it helped us.”
“I backed Mitchell to defend it in the final over. He is a legend and you always back a legend to come good during such crunch times. He has so much of experience and has faced such situations before. I knew Mitch would get us home,” Bumrah added.
Johnson, who took two wickets in the last over to tilt the balance completely, spoke about what his plan for the final over. “I wasn’t thinking much. I had a clear plan, to bowl at the stumps. Pressure situations are you are playing game for. I have done that before. It’s my second time (IPL titles),” Johnson added.
Mumbai mentor Sachin Tendulkar described the low-scoring match as “simply amazing”.
“The first half wasn’t good for us. But we thought right and the performance followed. Some amazing bowling and great fielding in the pressure situations,” he said.
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