Punjab Kings captain Mayank Agarwal is happy with the way the match against Mumbai Indians turned out in his team’s favor at the MCA Stadium in Pune on Wednesday. Opting to bat first, PBKS openers Mayank and Shikhar Dhawan got off to a great start as the pair put on 97 runs before parting ways.
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Mayank was in fine rhythm as he hit six fours and two sixes in his 32-ball 52 to form the basis of a challenging 198/5 target, a target that proved 12 runs too much for five-time IPL winners MI.
For his efforts with the bat, the 31-year-old was also adjudged the Player of the Match and was happy to make a big contribution to PBKS’s third win of IPL 2022.
Mayank said in the post-match presentation, “It was a good night, I am very happy to contribute to the team’s victory. The important thing for us was two points.”
Read also: PBKS slam MI for fifth consecutive defeat
Dhawan was the top scorer with 70 before Jitesh Sharma and Shah Rukh Khan ended the innings with brief strikes. However, Mayank refused to choose the batting as the main reason behind the team’s 12-run victory.
Mayank said, “We can’t say it was a run on the board, there were a lot of ups and downs in this game. There were a lot of crucial moments and more often than not, we were winning and winning those moments. When The match was 50-50 so we won those moments and it came to our side. It was not batting alone, it was periods in the game.”
Main characteristics: MI vs PBKS, IPL 2022
Mayank said the team has redeemed the brand of cricket against MI that he hopes to play regularly. “That’s the cricket we want to play, we want to play aggressive, tough cricket. Along with this, we have to show a good mindset. We were smart too. In the last match against Gujarat, we gave wickets to Rashid when it was not needed. This time we were a lot more aware, we were a lot more careful and made sure we didn’t try to give wickets to their main bowlers.”
While PBKS got rid of MI’s openers within five overs, Devald Brevis and Tilak Verma put on an 84-run partnership in quick time to sound the alarm bells.
Mayank admitted that both forced him to bring back his main bowlers.
“When Tilak and Brevis were leaving, we had to change our strategy, get into the main bowlers and try and get a wicket. Luckily it happened through run-outs and our main bowlers also took wickets,” said Mayank.
He further asked his teammates to keep improving with each game. “It’s good, very happy to have three wins. We are playing good cricket overall. If we keep doing that, if we improve 5-10% every game, we will keep doing special things. “
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