19 April,2019 03:21 PM IST | | PTI
Pravin Amre
Pandya brothers -- Hardik and Krunal -- hammered 51 runs off the last three overs to take Mumbai Indians to 168 for five on a slow and low Kotla wicket. The 40-run loss was Delhi's third at home in four games though they have been doing well in away matches.
"It is very important to win at home as well. We have won game so far (the super over one against KKR). The last two games, we did not do well in the Powerplay, the positive in this game was that we did very well in Powerplay (48/0)," Amre said.
"It is the middle overs which really cost us and it is one area we have to work on. If we can play the spinners well in the middle overs, it will be very important," he said at the post-match media interaction. The former India batsman said Hardik's 15-ball 32 towards the end of Mumbai innings made the difference.
"Hardik played a crucial knock. It was a 150-wicket and they managed to get an extra 18-run cushion." Asked if the slow pitch at home is not suiting their batsmen, Amre said: "I think if you see the away games, in Mumbai we scored more than 200 runs. When the bounce is there it suits our batsmen.
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"We know this Kotla wicket. It is very important how we adapt with this. The way Shikhar (Dhawan) started was outstanding. He read the wicket very well today. It is just in the middle overs our batsmen have to rise up."
Spinners dominated the game and yet Delhi did not use Amit Mishra's full quota after he gave away just 18 runs in three overs besides removing Rohit Sharma. The other Delhi spinner Axar Patel too bowled well, ending with figures of one for 17 in four overs.
Asked why Delhi did not play an extra spinner considering the conditions, Amre added: "We wanted to be consistent with our selection. Ishant Sharma has doing well for us in the Powerplay. We wanted to go with the same combination. It is just the last four overs, we conceded too many runs."
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