DUBAI: Mumbai Indians’ Hardik Pandya said his side was not aiming to touch the 200-run mark in the match against Delhi Capitals but ‘luckily’ they managed to put up a massive total on the board.
Mumbai Indians secured a spot in the final of the tournament after thrashing Delhi Capitals by 57 runs in Qualifier 1 here at Dubai International Stadium on Thursday.
“To be honest, we did not aim for the 200 but luckily, we got it,” Hardik told teammate Jasprit Bumrah in a video posted by iplt20.com.
Sent to bat first, Mumbai Indians put up a total of 200 runs on the board with Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan scoring 51 and 55* respectively. Hardik played an unbeaten knock of 37 runs off just 14 balls.
Chasing the target, Delhi Capitals got off to a very poor start as their first three batsmen — Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan and Ajinkya Rahane — went back to the pavilion on a duck. Delhi Capitals only managed to score 143 runs with Marcus Stoinis being the highest run-getter from the team, playing a knock of 65 runs.
When Bumrah asked Hardik about how does it feel to reach another final, the all-rounder said: “I have always backed this team to achieve what we achieve. This is not something new for me. I do not get too overwhelmed with this whole thing because I think we have worked hard enough and that too, number of times to reach where we have reached.” (ANI)
