Smashing half-centuries by Suryakumar Yadav and Cameron Green almost took the game away from Punjab Kings until Arshdeep Singh removed the former in the 18th over to send jitters in the Mumbai Indians' camp, which eventually led to a 13-run win for Punjab in the IPL on Saturday at the Wankhede Stadium.
Punjab restricted Mumbai to 201/6 after putting up 214/8 on the board, led by stand-in skipper Sam Curran's 29-ball 55. But the England allrounder, who was named the 'Player of the Match', said it was the bowlers who won the game for Punjab.
"Special win. Amazing ground, played many games with different sides. Great to get the win. Don't think I should be getting the award, with the way our pacers finished the match. Arshdeep and Nathan (Ellis) were incredible and the spinners bowled well," Curran said during the post-match presentation ceremony.
Curran received good support from Harpreet Singh (41 off 28) in taking Punjab to a commanding total. The skipper said he waited for the right time to explode as he felt he had done that too early in the previous matches.
"When I went in to bat, I knew I had to give myself a chance. In the previous games, I've looked to go big a little too early and reflected on that. But we have got a long (batting) line-up and we saw Jitesh went bang-bang and we know he's got that. He's a massive player and we just have to take our responsibility as players come back from injuries," he said.
The 24-year-old England allrounder, who is leading the side in the absence of injured regular skipper Shikhar Dhawan, said it was a "great experience" for him.
"Great experience. The coaches and the local guys are helping me through. (Coach Trevor) Bayliss, Haddin and Co have created a good, relaxed environment. We've won a few early games which helps," said Curran.
(With agency inputs)
