Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma was a happy man as his team secured the first win of IPL 2023 by beating Delhi Capitals in a last-ball thriller on Tuesday. After losing their first two matches, five-time champions Mumbai downed David Warner’s DC by six wickets, completing the 173-run chase on the last ball.
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“Winning the game is the most important. We have been working hard from the first game. We had a camp in Mumbai, getting the result (in our favour) feels good. First win is always special,” said Rohit.
Rohit was also named the Player of the Match for his knock of 65 from 45 balls.
IPL 2023: DC vs MI top moments
What helped Mumbai in their chase was the blazing start the openers gave to the team. Rohit and Ishan Kishan scored 68 together in the powerplay and later, Rohit stitched a 68-run partnership with Tilak Varma who scored 41 off 29 balls. Towards the end, Tim David and Cameron Green made 13 not out and 17 not out respectively to guide Mumbai to a crucial victory.
Rohit in the post-match presentation ceremony spoke about the importance of making the most of the powerplay and the overall batting effort.
“We needed to bat well to chase the total. I thought everyone put their hand up. We had to make it count for the team. I needed to make use of the powerplay, I knew we had to keep attacking and take our chances,” he said. “I tried to create a partnership, had a good communication with Tilak. It was important for us to have a good partnership.”
Earlier, leg-spinner Piyush Chawla took three wickets as DC were bowled out for 172. Rohit acknowledged the support the team received from the spinners.
“We played a Test match here recently, the pitch looked different. Getting a slow bowler was important on this pitch. The spinners kept us in the game.”
Meanwhile, DC have now lost four in four, their second-worst start to a season. In 2013, DC lost their first six matches.
“You look at the last three IPL games, amazing. Wrong end of it today, but the guys were fantastic. Two balls were wrong and that’s the game. We did well to bring it back in,” DC captain David Warner said.
Warner was full of praise for pacer Anrich Nortje who almost defended five runs in the last over and Axar Patel who smashed 54 in 25 balls to help DC reach a respectable total.
“Nortje is world-class and that’s what we expect from the big fella. Mustafiz too (did well),” he said.
“Axar should bat in the top four; he got us to a par total.”
Warner also added that his teams need to show consistency and stop losing wickets in short intervals.
“I think from the last three games, we’ve some positives but we shouldn’t lose wickets in clumps.”
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