Following his side's 14-run win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match, Mumbai Indians all-rounder Cameron Green said that the first two games were a learning curve for him and his death bowling is a work in progress. Cameron Green's fifty followed by Jason Behrendorff, Riley Meredith and Piyush Chawla's fiery spells helped Mumbai Indians (MI) clinch a 14-run win as they bundled out Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) for 178 in their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 match at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium here on Tuesday.
"I think the first couple of games were a bit of a learning curve for myself and for the team. Just winning the game is the greatest satisfaction--A bit of a sticky situation, when I walked out to bat. But I am glad the plans came off. Bowling at the death is a work in progress. The more you get exposed to it, the better you get at it. Obviously, we can continue with the winning momentum," said Green in a post-match presentation.
Put to bat first by SRH, MI posted a total of 192/5 in their 20 overs. Openers Ishan Kishan (38 off 31 balls, with three fours and two sixes) and skipper Rohit Sharma (28 off 18 balls with six fours) gave MI a flying start once again with a quickfire 41-run stand. Following the dismissal of openers and Suryakumar Yadav (7), Cameron Green and Tilak Verma stitched a 56-run stand for the fourth wicket.
Tilak scored 37 in 17 balls, consisting of two fours and four sixes, continuing his good run in the tournament. Green also brought up his first IPL half-century, scoring 64* in 40 balls with six fours and two sixes. Green and a cameo from Tim David (16) helped MI reach a competitive total.
Marco Jansen was the pick of the bowlers for SRH, taking 2/43 in his four overs. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and T Natarajan got a wicket each.
In the chase of 193, SRH lost Harry Brook (9) and Rahul Tripathi (7) cheaply to Jason Behrendorff, reducing the side to 25/2. Then it was skipper Markram and Mayank Agarwal who stitched a 46-run stand for the third wicket to bring their side back into the game.
Markram was dismissed for 22 off 17 balls. Wicketkeeper-batter Heinrich Klassen gave his side a chance at winning with his 36 in just 16 balls, consisting of six fours and two sixes.
But his dismissal and Agarwal's wicket for 48 off 41 balls, with four boundaries and a six reduced SRH to 132/6 in 14.5 overs. The home side could not really make a comeback after it and was folded for 178 runs in 19.5 overs.
Behrendorff (2/37) and Riley Meredith (2/33) were the pick of the bowlers for MI. Piyush Chawla also took 2/43 in his four overs. Arjun Tendulkar took 1/18 in 2.5 overs and Cameron Green also got a wicket.
With this win, MI are at the sixth spot in the points table with three wins and two losses, with a total of six points. SRH is at ninth position with two wins and three losses, with a total of four points.
Green got the 'Player of the Match' award for his all-round performance.