IPL 2019 | You can’t win match from dugout, says Mahela Jayawardene

05/13/2019

Mumbai Indians head coach Mahela Jayawardene has stated that a team cannot win the match from the dugout, referring to his side’s victory over Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League finals. Nine runs were required off the last over but Lasith Malinga ensured that MI get a one-run victory.

Mumbai Indians ended up with a below-par total of 149 while opting to bat first in the final encounter, however, the bowlers gave it all to end up on the winning side. CSK had lost three batsmen within 11 overs and the equation had come down to 69 runs off 45 deliveries with Shane Watson and MS Dhoni on strike. That was when Ishan Kishan made a direct throw to run out the CSK skipper which changed the entire complexion of the match. Even MI head coach Mahela Jayawardene felt that the run out was the game-changing moment.

“You can't win the match from the dugout. We had the game in our corner when MS got out,” he said after the match, reported Cricbuzz.

Pacer Lasith Malinga was taken to the cleaners as he was smashed for 42 runs in his first three overs. Nine runs were required off the final over and skipper Rohit Sharma handed the ball to Malinga despite the fact that he had leaked a lot of runs. Hardik Pandya was the other option but the coach felt backing the Sri Lankan was the right option.

“Great decision by Rohit to go back to experienced players. Malinga held his nerves and did well,” the 41-year-old expressed.

Kieron Pollard was the top performer with the bat as he blasted an unbeaten 41 off 25. With respect to bowling, Rahul Chahar only gave 14 runs in his four overs and also dismissed Suresh Raina. The coach was all praise for the players.

“We took a punt and held back Pollard and Pandya. Pollard has had a good record against CSK. I think this why big players come to the party. Rahul Chahar was brilliant and created the pressure through out for us,” said the former Sri Lanka captain.

Bowling coach Shane Bond also felt that 150 was below but he put his trust in the bowling attack. Jasprit Bumrah won the Man of the Match as he returned figures of 14 for two and was ably supported by the rest.

“Today is a culmination of a lot of hard work. We knew 150 was below par, but we knew we had quality in our bowling line-up, Malinga was superb in the last over,” Bond explained.

World Cup-bound Australian bowler Jason Behrendorff was impressive in the five matches he played and had even scalped five wickets. Bond remarked that every player, irrespective of the number of matches they played have worked hard.

“Everyone has worked hard for it, someone like Jason Behrendorff, he stayed with the team for a couple of months,” he signed off.