Pacer Mukesh Kumar, who played a key role in Delhi Capitals' win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in Match 34 of IPL 2023, said that he always dreamt of winning a match for his franchise in the last over.
Delhi Capitals registered their second victory in the IPL 2023 after defeating Sunrisers Hyderabad by seven runs at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad on Monday night.The Delhi based franchise put up 144/9 in their 20 overs, before restricting the Sunrisers Hyderabad to 137/6.
They needed to defend 13 runs in the final over and speedster Mukesh Kumar ensured that his team crossed the line by conceding just five runs."I always dreamt of winning a match for Delhi Capitals in the last over and that's what I tried to do.
I wanted to make full use of the opportunity when I was told that I would bowl the last over. I held my nerve and focused on my target," Mukesh was quoted as saying in a media release by the franchise.
"I just wanted to win the match for Delhi Capitals and it didn't matter to me if I didn't get wickets. I wanted to find a way to not concede a boundary in the final delivery. I'll look to replicate this performance in the future," he added.
Delhi Capitals were in a spot of bother when they were reduced to 62/5 in the eighth over. However, Manish Pandey and Axar Patel strung a 69-run partnership to help the team post a respectable total.
"We lost five wickets in quick succession, but Sarfaraz and I thought that 140-150 would be enough on the wicket in Hyderabad. Axar and Manish's partnership was very crucial for us," the pacer said.
The Delhi Capitals will take on Sunrisers Hyderabad in their next match at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, New Delhi on Saturday.