Allowed me to play my natural game in a star-studded Mumbai Indians team: Mathews
Mumbai Indians opener Healy Mathews says the depth in their team’s batting line-up is helping them to show their natural game. The Barbadian batsman scored 47 off 31 balls in the first match against Gujarat Giants and scored an unbeaten 77 off 38 balls against Royal Challengers Bangalore. He said after the victory, “There are many stars in our team. This gives me the facility to play freely at the top order.
He said, “Playing for the West Indies in the last few weeks, I have worked hard on my batting and made big scores. I tried to maintain the same rhythm. The wicket here is much better than South Africa, which helped a lot. My confidence has also increased. Mathews said that a target of 175 or 180 runs can be achieved on a pitch like the Brabourne Stadium. He said, “It is a good wicket for batting on which 170 to 180 runs can be scored. We have depth in our batting. Me and Nate (Squiver Brunt) can do that very well.
While RCB head coach Ben Swire admitted that the challenge for India’s domestic players is not an easy one. RCB have spent heavily on Smriti Mandhana, Richa Ghosh and Ellyse Perry. Swire said, “We didn’t want to start like this but the new players are doing well.” This is a big challenge for them. He has experience now but the dismissal of all the foreign players before the eighth over put pressure on him.