IPL 2020: Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma claims run chase against Kolkata Knight Riders' special

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Abu Dhabi, Oct 16: Mumbai Indians' captain Rohit Sharma lauded his team's performance after registering a clinical 8-wicket win against Kolkata Knight Riders in their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 encounter on Friday (October 16) in Abu Dhabi.

Quinton de Kock blasted another half-century as the defending champions cruised to an emphatic win and went to the top of the table. Chasing a target of 149, Rohit along with De Kock shared a partnership of 94 runs to lay the foundation for a rather easy run chase. The right-handed batsman scored 36-ball 35 and played second fiddle to De Kock, who was looking in sublime touch from the word go.

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Rohit said the win gave his team plenty of confidence because it was a clinical run chase. The Mumbaikar - during the post-match press conference - also claimed that the second half of the tournament will witness more run chases.

"It's special to chase and win, gives us plenty of confidence. We didn't chase a lot in the first half (of the tournament). (I) think we were clinical with both bat and ball, the expected performance was there. I thought we turned up very well, right from the start."

When asked if he had made plans to combat specific players in the opposition, Rohit said, "I believe a lot in match-ups, we have got success as a team (doing it). Understanding the match-ups is important but we need to be instinctive at times. Krunal (Pandya) and Rahul (Chahar) also bowled to Russell, I took a chance with the ball gripping and turning, but I knew (Jasprit) Bumrah was the go-to guy against him."

Talking about his opening partnership with Quinton de Kock, Rohit said he enjoys batting with the South African batsman.

"I prefer batting with him (de Kock), he's very straightforward. He likes to take on the bowler from the word go, but I usually like to assess the situation. We let him play the way he wants to, don't want to put any pressure on him," said Rohit.

When asked about his team's plans for the upcoming games as MI is sitting at the top of the points table, Rohit said his team can't afford to take anyone lightly.

"This tournament is very funny, can't take the foot off the pedal at any time, we have seen teams lose at times. The guys are very hungry, they haven't played a lot over the last six months - be it Ishan (Kishan) or Hardik (Pandya), they want to play and they want to win," he signed off.