IPL 2020: Ravichandran Ashwin hails Mumbai's clinical performance in the entire tournament

Delhi's premier spinner Ravichandran Ashwin came forward and hailed Mumbai for successfully retaining their title in the Dream11 IPL 2020 final at the Dubai International Stadium on Tuesday night. It seemed that Delhi had just peaked at the right time heading into the summit clash but Rohit Sharma & Co. were too strong for them in the decider. In the end, it turned out to be a one-sided contest as Mumbai defeated the first-time finalists by five wickets to win the tournament for a record fifth time. 

'Deserved winners': Ravichandran Ashwin

Taking to the micro-blogging site, the veteran offie wrote that it was not their night and then congratulated the five-time champions. At the same time, the Tamil Nadu all-rounder termed Mumbai as the 'deserved winners' and then credited them for being so clinical through the tournament. The Chennai-based cricketer then thanked both captains who had contested the summit clash- Rohit Sharma & Shreyas Iyer.

'Ash' concluded by giving a vote of thanks to the Indian Premier League (IPL) as well as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for pulling off a tournament like this during these tough times.

Read R Ashwin's tweet here:

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Mumbai successfully retain their title

Delhi were reduced to 22/3 after winning the toss and electing to bat first in their maiden final appearance. Skipper Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant then added 96 runs for the fourth-wicket stand. Skipper Iyer remained unbeaten and played a crucial knock of a 50-ball 65 as Delhi finished their innings at 156/7 from their 20 overs.

In reply, Iyer's opposite number Rohit Sharma successfully anchored Mumbai's run chase as he toyed around with the Delhi bowlers by smashing them to all parts of the ground. The 'Hitman' played a spectacular knock of a 51-ball 68 at a strike rate of 133.33 including five boundaries and four maximums. Apart from anchoring the innings, the elegant opener was also involved in a couple of good partnerships with his opening partner Quinton de Kock & Suryakumar Yadav. 

When Rohit was eventually dismissed in the 17th over it appeared that Delhi would somehow stage a comeback in the contest but it was not to be as Ishan Kishan and Krunal Pandya helped the reigning champions cross the finish line with 8 balls to spare. 

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