Mumbai read the conditions exceptionally well: Vettori

SRH head coach Daniel Vettori acknowledged that Mumbai read the conditions exceptionally well, and after probably the first few overs they really relied on that slow ball

Hyderabad: Sunrisers Hyderabad head coach Daniel Vettori acknowledged that Mumbai read the conditions exceptionally well, and after probably the first few overs they really relied on that slow ball.

“And, I think the slow ball is obviously effective, because of their execution, and there are some supreme exponents of it in Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult and even Hardik Pandya. So, I think the way that they bowled, particularly through those middle stages, really stifled us,” Vettori said in the post-match briefing after Mumbai won the IPL game in Mumbai on Thursday night.

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“I think we finished pretty well, but just that middle stage, the way that they bowled, didn’t allow us to score. I thought we tried to counter it pretty well,” he said. “But I also think you look at the way that Boult bowled to that small boundary, he defended it with superb yorkers, so I think they’re really clever in their planning, and we just weren’t able to get away the bad balls that they did bowl, which were few and far between,” Vettori said.

“Well I think, I mean, Jacks’ spell was fantastic, particularly he came up against our three left-handers who were all very good players of spin, but he was able to extract something out of the wicket, and all those batsmen said it was hard to get down to him, and when he did drop short it sort of sat in the wicket and made it difficult to hit. So, I think he found a good length,” Vettori explained.

“In general, it was a difficult batting surface, and 180 maybe would have been a par score and something that could have challenged Mumbai, but I think the way that they navigated the middle period, particularly their six-hitting prowess, took the game away from us,” he said.

“I feel like no one really has control over their surface. So there’s a little bit of luck involved in terms of coming up against wickets that don’t suit us. But I think there has to be more to it from our side that we have to adapt,” Vettori said.