We were lucky to be on the winning side, says Perth Scorchers' Mitchell Marsh
Perth Scorchers all-rounder Mitchell Marsh admitted that his side was fortunate to win their opening CL T20 tie against Dolphins in Mohali yesterday as he hit two sixes off the last two balls to pull off a miraculous run-chase for the Australian side.
Marsh, who was declared man of the match for his 40 from just 26 deliveries, said that he was backing his ability to clear the ropes in the final over and was honest enough in admitting that his match-winning cameo at the end might have papered over a few of the cracks of the batting unit.
"Lucky, we were on the winning side," he said after the match. "I knew we needed to hit the six. We had a big focus as a whole squad the whole batting unit to just have a clear mind and back ourselves, nothing changed in those last two balls. I tried to swing as hard I could and watch the ball."
Despite smashing seamer Robbie Frylinck for two consecutive sixes in the final over, Marsh said that the Dolphins bowled really well towards the end on what was a very good pitch for stroke making.
"It's a beautiful wicket to bat on. I thought they bowled really well in the end, to be honest. They bowled good yorkers and we did not get those boundaries when we needed them."
Langer praises Dolphins
Scorchers coach Justin Langer would have been relieved at his side’s winning start, but he didn’t forget to praise the Dolphins for the way they went about their business with the bat after losing a couple of quick wickets and with the ball expect right towards the very end.
"I actually admired the way they batted, they lost some early wickets, but kept going really hard right throughout the innings. Rather than being surprised, I respect the way they did that under pressure, they kept coming back at us hard. After the runs we had, it was a great credit for that."
Areas to improve
Asked if he thought his bowlers had lost the plot towards the end, Langer disagreed but acknowledged the need for them to improve their death bowling in order to reach the business end of the tournament.
"I don't think I would be using the word 'lost the plot' when I talked to them. I felt we did not finish very well with the ball, that scenario we need to get better. But we saw in our innings as well it is the hardest thing for any team to do to bowl at the in the end, but I thought Joel (Paris) bowled magnificently well, probably showed our senior players how to do it actually," Langer said.