Rohit Sharma hails magnificent' Jos Buttler, Parthiv Patel after Mumbai Indians' win
Indore: Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma compared Mumbai Indians' incredible near 200-run chase inside 16 overs with their victory against Rajasthan Royals during the 2014 edition of the Indian Premier League.
"Incredible game to be part of. Something which reminded me of 2014, when we chased 190 against Royals in 14 overs," Rohit said.
"To be able to chase this target in 15.3 overs is fantastic. Hashim Amla played one of the finest knocks we would ever see but we finished up really well. When we came back to the change room the talk was that the ground is small and we have the batters to do it. That was pretty evident in the first six overs. The way Jos (Buttler) and Parthiv (Patel) batted at the start was magnificent," said the skipper.
He was however not really perturbed with the performance of the bowlers, who have been on the expensive side during most of the matches.
"They (Malinga and Co) are proven match winners and they have done it for years, even in international cricket. That's there. It's a lot of pressure, it's always challenging. It's just about backing them and the management does that. They will come good. It's just the first half of the tournament, the second half becomes crucial, the table keeps changing so you have to be on the money, you can't lose momentum," he said.
For KXIP captain Glenn Maxwell lack of sideways movement became their undoing.
"Any time a batsman takes you on in the Powerplay like that, on a pitch that has no sideways movement or even purchase for slower balls, it's hard. Now onto Rajkot, another flat pitch. No respite to our bowlers."
Man of the match Jos Buttler said: "It was a small ground and a fantastic wicket. Luckily, we won the toss, you'd think 200 was a really good score. I think today, chasing that kind of total was great for me because I could go from ball one without thinking. I've put a lot of pressure on myself, trying too hard to score the runs. Today, when you're chasing a big score, you can relax and play your shots. Keep a still base and do the rest."
Speaking about his partnership with Parthiv, he told iplt20.com, "We both played our natural games. We complement each other well. He is a short left-hander. He looks to sit back and play square of the wicket and complements me with a different style at the other end."
"It is great fun to bat with a very calm guy. It is great that we managed to put a big partnership," he added.
Mumbai raced to 123 for 1 in 10 overs as Buttler brought up his fifty. He eventually fell for 77 which is also his highest T20 score.
Elaborating on the methods he used in the run-chase, Buttler said, "It was very close actually to my natural way of batting. It is nice actually when the opposition scores big; (then) you know you have only one way to take the game on. Today from the outset I was really looking to play my shots and kick on so that's a very natural way of batting - see ball, hit ball."
