02 May,2017 09:00 AM IST | Mumbai | Ajit Bezbaruah
On-a-roll skipper Rohit Sharma has no intentions of decreasing the pressure on opponents as MI beat RCB in last over to become the first team to qualify for play offs
Rohit Sharma
MI skipper Rohit Sharma plays a shot during the match vs RCB at the Wankhede yesterday. Pics/PTI
Mumbai Indians (MI) became the first team to make it to the play offs of IPL-10 with a five-wicket win in the penultimate ball of the match over Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the Wankhede Stadium yesterday.
The stage was set for MI skipper Rohit Sharma to play the kind of innings his team and fans always wanted to see and he didn't disappoint.
He was calm and composed. Rohit waited for his opportunities and when they came, it was all class. His shot selection and placement were just impeccable.
Not giving an inch
"We want to be ruthless in our approach and finish on top of the table. The tournament doesn't end here. We have to stick together and play as a team," said Rohit (56' off 37 balls), at the post-match presentation.
"Personally, it felt good to spend time in the middle. I picked my areas and backed myself to hit in those areas. You get value for your shots at Wankhede and I just wanted to find the gaps," he added.
The sweep six off S Aravind in the 19th over, going down on one knee and lifting him over mid-wicket for a six, is something that will be etched in memory for long.
That shot not only brought about his 50, but also killed the contest as it brought down the equation from 16 off 10 deliveries to 10 off nine. With Hardik Pandya holding one end up, the rest of the chase was quite easy.
Parthiv goes early
Earlier, chasing 163 for a win, MI remained very much in the hunt despite losing in-form opener Parthiv Patel off the innings' first ball. Jos Buttler (33), Nitish Rana (27) and Kieron Pollard (17) kept the team on track before Rohit and Pandya sealed the deal.
For RCB, there was no change in their luck and the result too. But it was a slightly improved show with the bat despite losing skipper Virat Kohli (20) cheaply. AB de Villiers (43) executed most of the shots he practised at the nets on match eve.
But they lost their momentum a bit in the middle before Pawan Negi played a cameo (35 off 23 balls) and his 54-run, sixth wicket partnership with India player Kedar Jadhav (28) provided them a respectable total in the end.
4,029 No. of runs scored by Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma in the IPL, the fourth player to reach the 4000-run mark
