Navi Mumbai, May 10: Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma praised a ‘special’ bowling performance from his spearhead Jasprit Bumrah. But at the same time, Sharma expressed his disappointment with the performance of his batsmen after losing to the Kolkata Knight Riders by 52 runs at DY Patil Stadium on Monday.
Bumrah’s mesmerizing spell of 5/10, which included three wickets in one over and 18 point balls, was in vain as Kolkata kept their slim hopes of making the IPL 2022 playoffs alive. For Mumbai, except for the 51 from Ishan Kishan, none of the other hitters in a lineup except an injured Suryakumar Yadav could get big runs.
“We’d take that total any day on that kind of pitch. Seeing how things played out in the second half of the innings for us was a great effort from the bowling unit. Bumrah was special today. But I’m disappointed in the way he we hit. I thought it was an even score on that pitch, but it was a little poor of us,” Sharma said after the game.
Sharma further lamented Mumbai’s lack of batting order partnerships, which did not get off to the fast and furious start that Kolkata had in the form of an initial 60-run partnership between Venkatesh Iyer and Ajinkya Rahane.
“We’re playing our fourth game here, so we know what to expect from a pitch like that. There were a few balls that got off the ground, but that happens. We know the seam bowlers are going to get help, but we didn’t hit well, I didn’t get associations and that. It was something that was missing from our side today.” Sharma praised Mumbai’s comeback in stopping fast tackles from Kolkata, but admitted that a lack of consistency in all departments has been his theme this season. “Looking at how they batted in the first 10 overs, I think it was 100 in the first 10 or 11 overs, but the way we came back was brilliant.” “Bumrah was special. Great effort from him and the entire bowling unit. The batsmen let us down today. That’s been the story for us. Consistent performance from both departments has been lacking. We couldn’t do it today.”