Mumbai Indians’ (MI) dominant campaign in the group stage of the Indian Premier League (IPL) ended with a crushing 10-wicket defeat to SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Tuesday in what captain Rohit Sharma said was their worst performance of the season.
MI finishes the season on top of the table with 18 points, two more than second-placed Delhi Capitals (DC), and a net run rate of +1.107 which is the highest by any team in the league.
“Not the day we want to remember, probably our worst performance of the season,” Rohit, 33, said after the match in which MI rested their key fast bowlers Trent Boult and Jasprit Bumrah.
SRH openers David Warner and Wriddhiman Saha ended up chasing a target of 150 without breaking much sweat.
“We wanted to try a few things but it didn’t go our way. We knew dew was going to be a factor and we wanted to take the toss out of consideration, but we didn’t play good cricket today,” he said.
“They played good shots in the Powerplay, and that helped them. If you take wickets in the Powerplay, even if there is dew, it can put pressure on the opposition,” he added.
MI now faces DC on November 5 in Qualifier 1, a team they had beaten on both occasions in the group stage.
“It’s a very funny format. It’s always nice to forget what has happened and focus on the present. They (Delhi) are a good side, so it will be a good challenge to face them. We want to leave this performance behind as quickly as possible. We’ll get back to the drawing board and figure things out,” said Rohit.
