Pune: Rising Pune Supergiant captain Steven Smith today said that his side were fortunate to win their IPL match against Mumbai Indians in a last-over finish here.
“It’s a nice place to bat at Pune. Fortunate to get over the line in the end,” Smith said after he hit two consecutive sixes under pressure to overhaul the target of 185 and win by seven wickets.
“Form is form anywhere, I guess, so you got to make the most of it when you’re hitting the ball well,” said Smith who had hit a magnificent hundred while leading Australia to a Test win here during the recent series.
Smith, who remained not out on a 54-ball 84 today, said he always knew that Mumbai would have to get an over from a spinner and they had to target him.
“It was nice to hit a couple of sixes to win the game. It was one of those wickets where it was hard to find timing as soon as you come in,” said the Australian.
Talking about his leg-spinner Imran tahir who took three wickets to restrict Mumbai to 184 for 8, Smith said, “Tahir was magnificent, probably called him on a little bit earlier than I would have liked to.
“Taking wickets through the middle overs was helpful and probably helped us in the end as well. Probably 180 was a par score on that wicket, pretty nice wicket with even bounce and slightly on the slower side.
PTI