IPL 2019 | Rohit Sharma feels Mumbai Indians had “decent score” to defend

The first game of this weekend between Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals went all down to the wire till the last over. In spite of a blistering knock of 89 runs by Jos Butler, the Rajasthan side kept on losing wickets in the last few overs which had put them in a spot of bother while chasing a total in excess of 180 runs.

Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit has lauded the efforts of Butler while saying that he had thought that the total was decent enough to be defended.

“I think credit goes to RR, they played well. Put us under pressure with the bat, Jos played an exceptional knock. We tried everything, but things didn't work out well. Without dew, 175+ is a good score, I thought we had a decent score to defend,” Rohit said after the match, reported Cricbuzz. 

Ajinkya Rahane and Butler had started off on a great note as the opening duo added 60 runs before the skipper was dismissed by Krunal Pandya just after the powerplay period. The Mumbai captain spoke about Alzarri Joseph who went for a plenty in the first few overs. Joseph was expensive with bowling figures of 0/53 in his three overs.

“We failed to take early wickets and on a track like Wankhede, it always becomes tough. It's a good headache to have such players in the squad. Lasith has been a match-winner for us, Alzarri has bowled well, it wasn't just his day. Buttler played him well and even the yorkers were converted into runs, one of those days where things didn't go well as planned,” the MI captain explained.