Published: May 17, 2017, 02:07 PM (IST)
Edited: May 17, 2017, 02:05 PM (IST)
Mumbai Indians (MI) succumbed to Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS) bowlers, allowing the latter to reach their maiden IPL final. MI will now have to face either Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) or Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in Qualifier 2 at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. On a slow track of Wankhede, RPS managed to post par-score of 162. However, MI lost wickets in succession leaving Parthiv Patel to play the battle alone. Parthiv scored a gritty knock of 40-ball 52. MI had made four changes to their side from their previous game against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). However, Parthiv denied too many changes to the side as cause of defeat against RPS. Full Cricket Scorecard: Mumbai Indians vs Rising Pune Supergiant, IPL 2017, Qualifier 1 at Mumbai
Parthiv stressed that too many changes was not a cause of concern for MI while speaking to iplT20, “No, not really. I had a niggle, so I stayed back. I was playing with a niggle past 3-4 games. So it was needed. We were assured of first or second spot. Sometimes in a tournament like this a break can do good to you. This break was much-needed for us.”
MI will now be playing their second Qualifier at Bengaluru on Friday. Parthiv mentioned that it will be nothing less than a semi-final, “Not really. We got to believe that we have got another chance because we have played well throughout the tournament. That is the reason we have got another chance of playing. But for us it is very important to forget what happened against RPS. We have to treat the next game as semi-final.”
Parthiv concluded by adding that a par-score was possible on a slow track like Wankhede, “This was probably par-score. We were thinking 160 but we lost too many wickets. So I feel 160 was probably the par-score on this wicket.”
