Sangakkara relieved after first win
An elated Mohali skipper Kumar Sangakkara praised Yuvraj Singh and Ramesh Powar for their first win from four matches.
By Aditya Ramachandran
Crediting Juan Theron for his bowling in the super over and Yuvraj Singh for his gumption in the batting part of it, Sangakkara said, "We decided to send Mahela because he is such a good player and known for his strength in negotiating with equal felicity against both pace and spin bowling.
"We also knew Mahela will be able to soak up pressure. All our bowlers did their job well, particularly Yuvraj and Ramesh (Powar).”
Suresh Raina, who could not bulid on his win over Delhi, said, "We should have batted better. When Hayden and Morkel were batting we thought we could get 15 to 20 runs that could have saved the match.
“The target we had was modest and they batted brilliantly to finish the match. Mahela Jayawardane was brilliant in closing stages. In the end Mohali players did better in crunch situations.
“We decided to bring in Murali because he was the best bowler today but such things happen in cricket", he said.
As for Kemp's injury, Raina said, "Kemp sustained leg spasm but will be ready for the next match as we have 10 days to go before taking on Mumbai.”
Meanwhile, Mohali coach Tom Moody said, "We got momentum which is very crucial in this format. We hope to build on this and our bowling will be strengthened from the next match as Shaun Marsh has landed in Chandigarh today.
"We have to bat and bowl better in the remaining matches. We decided to bring back Ramesh Powar because Chennai have four left-handers. He bowled well to our expectation. In fact all our bowlers did their job. Irfan held his nerves in the final over. Even when they were batting well, it was a matter of getting a couple of wickets, which we did. We managed to pile pressure on them," he said.
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