IPL 2020 | Mumbai’s disciplined bowling with right plans helped them against KKR, opines Simon Doull

Mumbai Indians walked into this encounter against Kolkata Knight Riders on the back of a horrid bowling performance against three-time IPL winners Chennai Super Kings. However, right from the word go, the defending champions looked a different side, with Rohit Sharma peppering every other delivery to and beyond the boundary. Alongside the support from Suryakumar Yadav, Saurabh Tiwary and Hardik Pandya, Mumbai got themselves to a gigantic total of 195 for five wickets, which was a match-winning total.

However, the success lied down to their bowling attack, which took KKR’s excellent batting order by the scruff of their neck. Former New Zealand pacer and a regular of the IPL, Simon Doull opined that Mumbai’s disciplined bowling attack alongside the right plans helped them overcome KKR’s mighty batting order. In specific, the Kiwi pacer pointed out how they bowled to English skipper Eoin Morgan, where the Mumbai bowlers bounced him out. 

“Ah, I had some faith in KKR to be better than that. Mumbai were excellent, right from the front with Rohit Sharma at the top of the order was outstanding with the bat. I thought discipline in their bowling was the key, they had out and out plans for every player. They bowled short and attacked Eoin Morgan. They lost it a bit with Dinesh Karthik in the middle phase,” Doull said on Cricbuzz’s post-match show. 

On top of that, he also complimented the newly formed bowling attack’s disciple, hitting the right line and length as the only reason for their success. However, Doull was also quick to appreciate the efforts of Mumbai’s bowling coach Shane Bond, who helped Mumbai extend their winning run against KKR. 

“But it’s their discipline, Boult was good, Pattinson was good, their line and length were on spot, what less can you expect from Shane Bond (their bowling coach). Yeah, it is one of their situations where Kolkata Knight Riders really do not know how to beat Mumbai,” he added.