Former India pacer S Sreesanth on Thursday heaped praise on Suryakumar Yadav for producing another gem of an innings to help Mumbai Indians chase down a steep target, describing him as a ‘mathematician’.
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Surya, who had struggled in the first few games in this year’s IPL but has suddenly picked up form since, struck a 31-ball 66 against Punjab Kings in Mohali in the second game of the Wednesday double-header.
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SKY, as he is popularly known, arrived at the crease at a time when MI were in a spot of bother following Cameron Green’s dismissal off the last ball of the powerplay. He would go on to forge a game-changing partnership with Ishan Kishan (75 off 41) worth 116 to put the five-time champions firmly on top in their chase of the 215-run target at the PCA IS Bindra Stadium.
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“SKY isn’t just a batter, he’s a mathematician. The way he carries himself is simply superb. He dissects the field like a mathematician uses a compass and a protractor on the paper. He makes those calculations brilliantly inside his sharp mind and makes full use of the dimension of the ground, the pace of the bowler, etc.
“He literally knows exactly where the fielder is and where the gaps are. He’s so precise. They say ‘sky is the limit’ but for Surya, even SKY is not the limit,” Sreesanth said on Star Sports Cricket Live.
Mumbai ended up becoming the first team to chase down a 200-plus target in consecutive matches in the history of the IPL; they had chased down 213 against the Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday with Surya top-scoring for Mumbai with a 29-ball 55.
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While Surya, who struck eight fours and two maximums in his knock, and Kishan departed in quick succession in the second half of the chase, the pair of Tim David and Tilak Varma took Mumbai home with another unbroken stand, with Tilak playing the aggressor-in-chief this time.
MI currently sit at the sixth spot on the IPL 2023 points table with five wins and four defeats in nine games, the same as RR and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), and from languishing in the bottom half of the table, the Rohit Sharma-led side suddenly appear genuine contenders for the playoff spots.
“Once Mumbai Indians taste victory, there’s no stopping them. They have a long history of success. They’ve done it in the past and can repeat it,” added Sreesanth, who had played three seasons for Punjab from 2008 to 2010.
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