The competition is really tight this year: Behrendorff

Mumbai Indians showcased their batting prowess at the Wankhede Stadium to register an emphatic six-wicket win against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Tuesday, May 9. 

After opting to bowl first, the home team dismissed Virat Kohli and Anuj Rawat cheaply in the powerplay. However, Faf du Plessis and Glenn Maxwell forged a blazing 120-run stand for the third wicket to lay a solid foundation for the side in the first innings. 

The Australian batter was dismissed by his countryman, Jason Behrendorff in the middle overs for 68 runs off 33 balls that restricted the flow of runs. 

"I think the partnership was about 100 off 50 balls at one stage. So, we really needed to break that partnership. We had a few different plans, a few things nearly worked, and then yeah, we were able to sort of crack through it at the back end," Behrendorff said in the post-match press conference.

"It gave us a really good opportunity to dry them up towards the end of the innings, which has been a tough phase for all the bowlers. If we can take wickets at regular intervals, and it stems the flow of the batters and gain, like we were able to take consistent wickets throughout the innings, which helped after that big partnership,” Behrendorff added.

In pursuit of 200 runs, Rohit Sharma struggled to get going and was dismissed for yet another low score of seven off eight deliveries. However, the left-arm pacer backed the skipper to come good in the coming games.

"I loved the intent with which Rohit came out. He stepped down the track and tried to take on the bowlers, which is really good to see. He is hitting the ball really well, but it has not translated out in the middle."

"But we know how good Rohit is, and he is a really class player. He just needs a couple of shots to bounce himself back into form, and very excited to see how he goes about in the next few games," he further added. 

Mumbai Indians became the first team in the history of T20 league to chase down a total in excess of 200 thrice in a row and the speedster credited it to the batting unit for their power-hitting. 

"It is a credit to our batting group. We've got a really long batting line-up. We’ve got SKY, who is at a different, different level. He's been batting amazingly. We’ve seen what Timmy David can do at the back end."

"And then Nehal, who has come in in the last few games in particular and has really taken the game on. So, we've got some great options, which is really important."

The competition's so tight this year. This was a very important win for us, that's for sure. So hopefully, we just need to keep this momentum rolling, and we have got three big games coming up,” Behrendorff concluded. 

Mumbai Indians will host defending champions Gujarat Titans on Friday, May 12, at the Wankhede Stadium.