Harbhajan praises matured Rohit for `gem of an innings`

Visakhapatnam: Mumbai Indians captain Harbhajan Singh has praised young batsman Rohit Sharma for playing a "gem of an innings" to guide the team home in a last ball finish against Deccan Chargers in the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the YS Rajsekhara Reddy Stadium here.

Rohit, who smashed an unbeaten 73 off 50 balls, hit a six off the last ball to give Mumbai Indians a thrilling win here Monday night. "We were right under the target. We knew that the boundaries were short and later on the bowlers would be under pressure. We have got the batsmen who can clear any boundaries. We should have finished it a little earlier," said Harbhajan. "It was a gem of an innings. He stayed calm and took us through safely. He has matured as a player," the feisty off-spinner said. Rohit said the idea was to stay calm in a tense match. "The idea was to stay calm. That is what I have been doing for India. When (James) Franklin came in, we needed 19 runs in the last over. I knew we could do it in the end. The dive on the second last ball was what saved us. We needed this win very badly. We lost the second game and needed to win this to gain momentum," he said. Deccan Chargers captain Kumar Sangakkara said his team was 15-20 runs short. "We were probably 15-20 runs short. Rohit batted brilliantly. (Amit) Mishra, (Dale) Steyn and (Ankit) Sharma bowled well. Dan Christian was left with a tough job in the last over," he said. IANS