Cummins lauds Abhishek Sharma, calling his performance ‘impressive’ during the post-match presentation.
Updated On – 28 March 2024, 11:21 AM
Photo: ANI
Hyderabad: After his side’s 31-run win over Mumbai Indians (MI) in the Indian Premier League (IPL), Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) skipper Pat Cummins said that they finished the game well.
While speaking at the post-match presentation, Cummins showered praise on Abhishek Sharma and said that he was “impressive” in the game.
Talking about the pitch, the SRH skipper said that it was a “good” wicket. He added that the hosts were “postive” and “aggressive” in the first inning for which they could put the highest score in the history of the IPL.
“That was insane. The ball was really pinging around. Not until we bowled, it got a bit too close for comfort. They found a boundary whenever they needed it, but we finished it off well. (On Abhishek Sharma) Really impressive, in IPL you play with a lot of pressure but he plays with great freedom. (On plans in first innings) You never play for 270, but we wanted to be postive and be aggressive, take the game on. It was a good wicket, so we have to suck it up knowing we would go for a few boundaries. What’s important is to have clear plans with the ball,” Cummins said.
Recapping the match, MI skipper Hardik Pandya won the toss and asked the hosts, SRH, to bat first at Hyderabad’s Rajiv
Gandhi International Stadium. Openers Mayank Aggarwal and Travis Head played attacking shots from the start of the inning. They built a partnership of 45 runs in just 4 overs before Mayank was dismissed on the first ball of the inning by Hardik.
Markram came to support Abhishek after Head’s wicket. Both batters played brilliantly and put on a partnership of 48 runs in just 19 balls before Abhishek was dismissed after playing a marvellous inning of 63 runs in just 23 balls with the help of seven maximums and three boundaries.
Following Abhishek’s wicket, Klassen came into the middle to bat along with Markram. Both of them built an unbeaten partnership of 116 runs off just 55 balls. Markram and Klaasen were on the crease and powered Hyderabad to a total of 277/3 after the end of the 20th over.
During the run chase, Rohit Sharma (26 runs from 12 balls) and Ishan Kishan (34 balls from 13 balls) opened for the visitors and gave the Mumbai-based franchise a fiery start. However, two quick dismissals helped Hyderabad to make a comeback in the match. Tilak Varma (64 runs from 34 balls) was the only standout batter for Mumbai. He slammed two fours and six sixes at a strike rate of 188.24 during his time on the crease. Tim David (42 runs from 22 balls) tried to make a partnership with Tilak but still failed to chase the high-scoring target. Jaydev Unadkat and Pat Cummins led the Hyderabad bowling attack as they scalped two wickets each in their respective spells.
