Umpires should keep their eyes open, this is not club cricket, says Kohli, Rohit agrees
Bangalore: An angry Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli came down heavily on ICC Elite Panel Umpire S Ravi after the final delivery of the match bowled by Mumbai Indians' Lasith Malinga turned out to be a 'no-ball', which was not awarded to the losing team.
More importantly, winning captain Rohit Sharma was also critical of umpiring standard during the match.
"We are playing at the IPL level. It's not club level, the umpires should have their eyes open. That was a big no-ball. That is a ridiculous call (last ball). If it is a game of margins, I don't know what is happening. They should have been more sharp and careful out there," a livid Kohli said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
Incidentally, Ravi is the only Indian umpire in ICC's Elite Panel for a number of years now as none of the others have been good enough to be elevated.
Needing 7 to win and six to take it to Super Over, Malinga's full toss yielded only one run but the big screen replay showed that the bowler had overstepped and a free hit should have been awarded.
Had it been a free-hit, AB de Villiers batting on 70 would have faced with five needed to win.
"We should have done a better job with the ball after they were seven down. The last few overs were brutal for us. Bit of a mistake from me to take Bumrah on at that time. Bumrah makes a hell of a difference in any team," the RCB skipper praised his India teammate.
Winning captain Rohit also voiced his concerns about umpiring.
"Honestly, I just go to know after crossing the rope that it was a no-ball. These kind of mistakes aren't good for the game. The over before that Bumrah bowled, a ball which wasn't a wide but it was called," Rohit referred to a decision given by other umpire C Nandan.
"Anything over 180 you can fight with. It wasn't a safe score but we had the bowlers to get the job done. Even though Virat and AB had a partnership going, we didn't panic. I thought we stuck to our plans, it was a great effort by the bowlers. Should have got 200 with the bat on this pitch."
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Rickelton's ton in vain as SRH beat MI by 6 wickets
Mumbai (PTI): Ryan Rickelton's whirlwind unbeaten ton was overshadowed by Heinrich Klaasen's unbeaten 65 as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians by six wickets in an IPL match here on Wednesday.
Chasing an imposing 244-run target, Travis Head (76 off 30) and Abhishek Sharma (45 off 24) shared 129 runs for the opening wicket to set the platform for SRH.
Klaasen (65 not out off 30 balls) then displayed his all-round hitting abilities to guide SRH home with the help of Nitish Kumar Reddy (21) and Salil Arora (30 not out off 10) in 18.4 overs.
Earlier, Rickelton's knock powered MI to 243 for five.
MI rode on a 93-run stand between Rickelton (123 not out off 55 balls) and Will Jacks (46 off 22) in 7.1 overs for the opening stand to power the side.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya scored a valuable 31 off 15 balls before being dismissed.
Praful Hinge (2/54), Eshan Malinga (1/29), Sakib Hasan (1/39) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (1/31) were the wicket-takers for SRH.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indian: 243 for 5 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 123 not out; Praful Hinge 2/54).
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 249 for 4 in 18.4 overs (Travis Head 76, Heinrich Klaasen 65 not out; AM Ghazanfar 2/51).
