Published: May 22, 2014, 10:15 AM (IST)
Edited: May 22, 2014, 11:06 AM (IST)
May 22, 2014
Lendl Simmons made a blistering 100 runs off just 61 balls for Mumbai Indians (MI) against Kings XI Punjab (KXIP), kept his team in the contention of making it to the playoffs in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2014, and believes this was his most special T20 innings so far.
“Yes, I’ll say so. This 100 is very special. I am just grateful for the chance to play in the IPL after not being picked up in the auction. In my first game, I scored 38 and then have built on that. This is a great feeling, scoring the first century of this IPL season and my first century in a long time.” Simmons said in an interview with iplt20.com
Mumbai have struggled to find a strong opening pair and have continuously changed the opening pair. Simmons and Michael Hussey have performed well as the opening pair for Mumbai and when Simmons was asked whether Mumbai have found the perfect opening combination, he said, “Cricket is not a certain game and you can never say that we have found a stable combination in any aspect of the game. In the T20 format, you don’t have a stable batting order; you just go with your best combination on the day.”
Simmons has been opening the batting with Hussey and believes he helps him a lot during his innings, and gives him confidence with the talks they have between overs.
“He’s a very cool guy, very relaxed and doesn’t get flustered at all. He’s very down to earth and he keeps talking to you while batting, which is very good. He helped me a lot today during my first 50 runs, walking up to me every now and then and giving me confidence. He is very good to bat with and great to have around in the team.”
Simmons feels he will be satisfied with if this knock helps Mumbai reach the playoff stages and even though he has joined the camp late he has been able to find his place in the team and has been the one of the star batsmen for the team.
It is satisfying, but I’ll be more satisfied with this knock if it helps us make the Playoffs. If we get there, I’ll be able to look back at this knock and say, ‘Yes, I had a big impact on us getting into the top four’.
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