Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Hardik Pandya reflected on his team's performance after they survived a major scare against the Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) match on April 18 (Thursday). The Mumbai-based franchise looked set to overpower the Punjab-based franchise after restricting the hosts to 14/4 in a run chase of 193-run target. As it turned out, Hardik's men just got over the line and emerged victorious by nine runs.
After the game, Hardik reflected on his team's performance, especially in the bowling department, and deemed it 'soft'. Having said that, the MI skipper was happy with the scrappy win.
"Very good game of cricket. Everyone's nerve got tested. We did speak about before the game that the character will be checked in this game. Naturally you think you're ahead in the game. But we knew IPL has a tendency to produce these games," Hardik told the broadcasters, as quoted by Cricbuzz.
Hardik lauds Ashutosh Sharma
PBKS batter Ashutosh Sharma played a sensational knock and almost stole a win for his franchise from the jaw of defeat. The 25-year-old launched seven sixes and two fours during his phenomenal knock of 61 runs off 28 balls. Just when Punjab looked on course to pull off a miraculous win, Ashutosh Sharma was dismissed by Gerald Coetzee and the home crowd went numb.
Reflecting on Ashutosh's display with the bat, Hardik exuded happiness for the young batter and is excited to see how he performs in the future.
"Unbelievable - coming in and playing like that (Ashutosh's knock). Almost every ball hitting the middle. Happy for him and chuffed for his future," the MI skipper added.
With the win, Mumbai improved to three wins in the season after playing seven matches. Meanwhile, Punjab slipped into further misery with five losses in seven matches played in the season so far.
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