![Hardik Pandya Hardik Pandya](https://i0.wp.com/bsmedia.business-standard.com/_media/bs/img/article/2024-04/02/full/1712041485-1534.jpg?resize=826%2C465&ssl=1)
Hardik Pandya, captain of Mumbai Indians. Photo: Sportzpics
Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya on Monday urged his team to show a bit more “discipline” and “courage” to turn things around after suffering a third successive loss in the IPL 2024.
In reply, Rajasthan Royals overhauled the target with 27 balls to spare for a six-wicket win.
“We didn’t start the way we wanted to, tough night tonight,” Hardik told the broadcasters after the match.
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It was Hardik’s 21-ball 34 which pushed MI’s total. But things went downhill after he was sent back by Yuzvendra Chahal.
“I think we were in a decent position to give us a chance to get to 150 or 160 but I think my wicket changed the game and brought them more in the game and I think I could have done better,” he said.
The bowlers had a good day in office with Chahal (3/11) and Trent Boult (3/22) setting up the win for RR.
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RR skipper Sanju Samson said the toss played a crucial role in deciding the fate of the match.
“(The toss) I think that was the gamechanger. The toss was very crucial. I felt it was too sticky to start off and we had the experience of Trent Boult and Nandre Burger’s speed,” Samson said.
“(Boult) has been playing international cricket for so long and we expected him to deliver. I didn’t expect four or five wickets down, but it was great.
Chasing 126 for a win, RR were reduced to 48 for three in the seventh over but Riyan Parag blasted a 39-ball 54 not out, his second successive fifty this season, to take the team home.
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“When I play domestically this is the exact kind of situations I go into bat. When Jos (Jos Buttler) bhai and Ash (R Ashwin) bhai got out, I thought to myself this is what I do in domestic cricket. So that’s what I calculated.
On the difference between domestic cricket and IPL, Parag said: “I have had three-four years of not performing at all. And you really go back to the hotel room and think when you know you can do it and the results are not coming, you go back to the drawing room.
Boult was awarded the Player of the Match for his three wickets in the powerplay with two of them — Rohit Sharma and Naman Dhir — coming in the first over itself.
“Never say it’s a certainty in the format, but it was nice to get the wickets. We created early pressure, nice to take some wickets and glad the result went our way,” he said.
Boult also termed South Africa’s Nandre Burger a “great find”.
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First Published: Apr 02 2024 | 12:35 PM IST