We were well prepared against Royals: Shane Bond

Speaking after the victory, Bond revealed, We do a lot of work behind the scenes for every opposition. The powerplay was excellent from our bowlers. We knew the top four (of RR batting order) were extremely dangerous and happy our plans came off.

Hyderabad: Mumbai Indians bowling coach Shane Bond said they were well prepared against Rajasthan Royals and their bowlers executed their plans to perfection paving way for a thumping 57-run victory on Tuesday.

Speaking after the victory, Bond revealed, “We do a lot of work behind the scenes for every opposition. The powerplay was excellent from our bowlers. We knew the top four (of RR batting order) were extremely dangerous and happy our plans came off. We were very clear about our plans against Sanju Samson and Steve Smith. We wanted to make Smith hit across the line and use short balls to Samson. The plans worked well and winning the match by 50 odd runs was a fantastic effort from the lads.”

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Trent Boult and James Pattinson were the regular opening bowlers so far in the tournament but on Tuesday, Jasprit Bumrah took the new ball along with Boult. Speaking about the move, he said, “Jasprit genuinely wanted to take the new ball. So far we have used him defensively at the back end of the innings. Today we saw a fresh wicket and wanted him to give the new ball to take us wickets and he was fantastic.”

He also lauded Suryakumar Yadav who anchored the innings with an unbeaten 79 to help MI post 193/4 on the board. “Some of the shot making from him was unbelievable. He was frustrated as he was hitting the ball well but not playing big innings. He is a fantastic player and it is great for him today. We knew he was due for a big innings and it came today.”

Meanwhile, Royals’ Jos Buttler, who waged a lone battle with a fighting 70-run knock, conceded that their top order was under pressure and they lost the game because of too many wickets fell in the powerplay (31/3). “We haven’t managed to come off as a top order unit in the last three matches and lost too many wickets. Of course, powerplay is the time we have to take advantage of field restrictions but we haven’t performed and that can happen in T20 cricket. Mumbai bowled very well.”

Young pacer Karthik Tyagi made a debut for RR in the game and picked up a wicket. The wicketkeeper batsman said that Tyagi was very impressive and his performance in the nets earned him the cap. He also lauded Suryakumar Yadav saying, “He played a fantastic innings. He used his crease very well. We could not execute our plans against him.”

Speaking about his own form, he added, “I haven’t felt best in the middle yet. I am still finding form. Today was good. I got some time to spend and hopefully I will use this confidence going ahead in the tournament.”