Australian pacer Daniel Sams, who conceded just three runs in a dramatic last over to help Mumbai Indians secure their second IPL 2022 victory, said he stuck to his ‘best’ slower deliveries and it paid dividends against Gujarat Titans on Friday.
Chasing 178, Gujarat Titans were well on track to secure their ninth victory in the tournament. However, a flurry of wickets saw them need nine runs from the last over with Rahul Tewatia and David Miller batting in the middle.
However, the Hardik Pandya-led side could manage only three runs with Tewatia being run out to lose the game by five runs and slump to their second loss on the trot. For Sams, it was an ‘awesome’ feeling to finally take his team over the line.
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“Awesome we got over the line, it went back and forward. 9 runs off 6 balls made me feel I have nothing to lose and the odds are in the batter's favour,” Sams said after the match. “I got a few wide balls in the tramline and managed to execute it well.
“My intent was to stick to the best balls I could bowl, the slower one is the ball I go back to and it paid off,” added Sams, who has seven wickets from the same number of games this season. Having loss their first eight games in the competition, Mumbai Indians are already out of the play-offs reckoning.
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“After the eight losses, we looked at it as a mini-IPL with six games. We are trying to show what we can do and were able to pull it off which helps our confidence," said Sams. Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma too praised his bowlers for pulling off the win.
“It was tight towards the back end, very satisfying as we were looking for this. Luck had to turn in to our favour, we will take this with both hands,”said Rohit. “We were 15-20 short (while batting), they bowled well. Tim David played really well.
“Dew came in, good pitch and lightning outfield meant things were in their favour, credit to our bowlers who finished the job. The boys pulled it off, which is great. We wanted to take one game at a time, we know we have not played our best cricket, but that happens.”
About the team strategy during the Titans' run chase, Rohit said, “Lots of factors need to be considered on bowling changes, I felt they like pace coming on to the bat, so we wanted to take that off.
“Lot of credit to the bowlers at the back end. They did a fantastic job by putting pressure and pull it back to 170, as they (MI) were on the way to 200."
On Daniel Sams who conceded just three runs in the last over to seal the match in MI's favour, Rohit said, "He was under the pump in a couple of games, but I have seen him for Australia and in the BBL, he has a lot of skill. It was not easy to defend nine runs."
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Gujarat Titans captain Hardik Pandya said the two run-outs (of himself and Rahul Tewatia) cost his side the game. “On any day, we'd take nine runs off the last over. The two run-outs cost us the game. I think batters let us down,” he said.
“In T20s, you can't lose back-to-back games. No blame games as we have cleared such games. We have made rookie mistakes which cost us this one. “We played good cricket for 19.2 overs in our innings, one or two hits would have made a difference. We should not have let it come down to the last over.”
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With PTI Inputs
