07 October,2021 07:20 AM IST | Mumbai | Subodh Mayure
MI pacer Nathan Coulter-Nile celebrates a Royals wicket. Pic/BCCI, IPL
Pacer Nathan Coulter-Nile (4-0-14-4) was the pick of the lot as defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) outclassed Rajasthan Royals (RR) by eight wickets with 70 balls to spare in Sharjah on Tuesday to keep their play-off hopes alive in IPL-14.
Put in to bat, RR were restricted to 90-9 in their allotted 20 overs, thanks to pacers Coulter-Nile, James Neesham (4-0-12-3) and Jasprit Bumrah (4-0-14-2). In reply, MI opener Ishan Kishan made full use of the Power-play, scoring an unbeaten 50 off just 25 balls (5x4, 3x6) as the game was won in the ninth over. Coulter-Nile, who bowled the 4th, 10th, 17th and 19th overs of the innings, said that he benefited from the pressure created by MI's other pace bowlers.
"We all have to bowl well for someone else to be successful. We have Trent Boult [0-24] and Bumrah bowling well. Neesham bowled well against Rajasthan Royals. Everyone, who comes in, is responsible for keeping the pressure on. So, I was lucky that the pressure was applied when I came on and I got the wickets. It could be someone else in the next game. "We have been really good, hopefully, we can keep the trend going," Coulter-Nile said during the post-match virtual press conference on Tuesday.
The Australian pacer also lavished praise on Kishan, who has not been in the best of form earlier in the tournament. "It was really good for Ishan to come in, especially after missing a couple of games, and to perform really well on such a tough wicket. This really shows the quality we have on our bench.
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"Really happy to see him score runs. He was smashing it around in the pre-season. It was only a matter of time before he got runs," said Coulter-Nile. MI, who are placed fifth with 12 points, will fight it out in a must-win encounter against the Sunrisers Hyderabad in their last league match on Friday in Abu Dhabi.
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