Sachin-Ponting opening stand set up Mumbai Indians win: Johnson
Mitchell Johnson says the start given by veterans Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting laid the foundation of the comprehensive win over Pune Warriors.
Mumbai Indians fast bowler Mitchell Johnson on Saturday credited his side's 41-run victory over Pune Warriors in their IPL game to the 54-run opening stand between skipper Ricky Ponting and Sachin Tendulkar.
"I think our opening partnership got us to a good start. Then DK (Dinesh Karthik) and Rohit (Sharma) put on a good partnership. Rohit kept going and obviously got us a good total to bowl to. That gave us the confidence to go out there and pitch the ball up and get those early wickets," Johnson said at the post-match press conference.
"It was nice to see the ball swing around. You normally see it in these conditions with the white ball, a bit of early swing, so (we were) looking to pitch the ball up. It was nice to get those early wickets because it definitely put them under pressure," Johnson, who was Mumbai's best bowler on Saturday with 3 for 33, said.
"We started well with a good partnership, we slowed down a bit we got another partnership going. We know we can score well in the death overs, so the boys did exceptionally well. Two games at home and two wins so it's a good start to the season," he added.
The Australian further said that he enjoyed bowling at the Wankhede Stadium as the wicket was quite similar to what he was used to playing back at home at Gabba.
"It's a nice wicket. It's very similar to the Gabba where I grew up playing cricket. Little bit of bounce, little bit of pace, but if you missed your mark, you get punished. It's a nice wicket, wish we could take it everywhere we go.
"That is the beauty of cricket you come up with different conditions all the time and you have got to adapt to it. I am looking forward to the next venues," the left-arm bowler said.
Mumbai Indians have three away games now and Johnson said they need to be focused on the task ahead.
"We have got a few games away, so we need to keep our focus and keep going. It's a long tournament so we have got to keep working hard to put good wins on the board," he said.
"We have got to keep our focus. You have got to enjoy your wins but move forward and play the next games. That is how we are going. It's going to be a tough couple of weeks with our away games. We have got the confidence, we just have to keep doing our skills," he added.