Mumbai looks to rectify bowling woes

AHMEDABAD: Its three-game winning streak snapped after a loss to Punjab Kings, five-time champion Mumbai Indians will look to address its poor death-over bowling when it takes on a resurgent Gujarat Titans in the IPL match here on Tuesday.

After a familiar poor start, Mumbai enjoyed a hat-trick of wins but its impressive run was cut short by Punjab Kings with a 13-run win on Saturday.

Mumbai was let down by its death-over bowling as it conceded 96 runs in the final five overs to allow Punjab post 214 for 8, and it will have to sort out its bowling ahead of the Gujarat clash.

It was the pace quartet of Arjun Tendulkar, Jason Behrendorff, Cameron Green and Jofra Archer who were put under the pump as all of them conceded more than 40 runs in their quota of overs.

The experienced Piyush Chawla and his spin bowling colleague Hrithik Shokeen, however, have been on the money as they restricted the flow of runs, with the former snapping two wickets as well. Mumbai’s batting unit has looked formidable with the top and middle order being among runs. While Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan have given a good start to the team on most occasions, Suryakumar Yadav’s return to form is a big positive for Mumbai, which has been served well by the overseas duo of Cameron Green and Tim David.

Criticised for not being able to defend totals this season, Gujarat showed how to do it with a master class at the death overs to strangle Lucknow Super Giants’ chase in its previous match.

The star of Gujarat bowling was Mohit Sharma, who walked away with the player of the match award. Gujarat was in a dire situation with Lucknow cruising at 105 for 1 in 14 overs while chasing 136 but the bowlers, led by Mohit, defended the modest total.