“Relished the opportunity to contribute in a winning performance,” says Delhi Capitals’ Colin Munro
New Delhi, 15 April 2019: Sunday evening saw Delhi Capitals register their third away win in three matches as they produced a great bowling performance to defend a score of 155/7 and defeated the home side, Sunrisers Hyderabad by 39 runs. Kagiso Rabada (4/22), Keemo Paul (3/17) and Chris Morris (3/22) took the wickets, but it was New Zealand’s fiery opener Colin Munro who made the difference with the bat as he scored a blazing 40 off 24 balls in his first match of the season to help his team post a respectable total on the board.
The 32-year-old says that he is pleased that he could help his team secure a win. He said, “Personally it is obviously very nice to contribute for the team in a winning performance. It has been challenging to sit on the sidelines and then come into the side. But obviously, I relished the opportunity as Colin Ingram has gone home to attend to his new-born. The mood around the camp is also fantastic at the moment, and with three wins on the trot, all of us are very pleased as we have played some very good cricket. The important thing now is to take this momentum into the coming few games, and make sure that we are achieving our targets.”
Speaking on what the chat was around the Delhi Capitals’ camp during the start of the second innings against SRH, Munro said, “I think all of us felt that we were 10-15 runs short, but credit to SRH for the way they bowled as well. It was not like we didn’t try hard enough, but it was a case where they were excellent towards the latter stage of our innings. But with the ball in hand, the talk was to make sure we were executing our plans. I think Ishant, KG and Morris did a great job up front to restrict them to 40-0 in Powerplay on a really good surface. Even though we did not get the wickets early on, we did speak during the first time-out about how a couple of quick wickets can change the whole game for us, and that is what happened.”
Munro continued, “We just kept hunting for wickets, and it got us through. Every second over we got a wicket which was really good for us, and we didn’t let them have any partnerships apart from the opening one. The bowlers were outstanding, led by Keemo. It was quite amazing to see how the two South Africans closed the innings perfectly, bowling the right lengths.”
Summarizing Delhi Capitals’ season so far, Munro felt that his team is peaking at the right time. “Look when you play a tournament like the IPL, you can’t always really worry about the end-result on the field. You know you want to win every single game, but the IPL is the hardest competition in the world. So for us to go out there and perform every single day, we know that’s something that is not going to happen every single game. So as long as we are putting in good performances, and the attitude’s right, we know that we are on the right path. With Ricky as the coach, I think what he looks for in a player is the right attitude. Having so many great players in our squad, we just need a couple of players to step up every match and win it for us. And that is what happened against SRH as well. I think we are peaking at the right time in this tournament, it was a bit of a slow start but we have now won three in a row on the road against some strong teams.”
The JSW and GMR co-owned franchise have a three-day gap before they host Mumbai Indians at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium, and the left-hander hopes for the Kotla pitch to quicken a bit. He said, “Hopefully the pitch quickens up a bit back home at Kotla. Though, I am not sure how they will do that as it’s a short period of time but I strongly believe that results on that pitch depend on which team adjusts to the pitch better. You know some teams now come to Delhi and think maybe 130-140 is a par score, but we know that if we bat well on that surface, we can easily get to 180. So I feel it just depends on how we adapt to the surface and how our slower bowlers perform.”
Talking about where he would like his team to finish this season, Munro said that playoffs is a realistic target that his team is looking to achieve currently. “I think the talent that we have got in the squad, combined with the hunger, playoffs is where we need to be. Without obviously looking too far ahead, it’s a competition where each game is as important, but when I look back on how we have played in the last three games, I feel there is room for improvement in all three departments. So I believe if we play up to our full potential, we can definitely qualify for the playoffs and quite possibly go on to achieve great things this season.”
Follow Sportskeeda for all the updates on IPL score, purple cap, points table, schedule, news, orange cap and fantasy tips.