Kolkata, May 20 (PTI): A winning formula continued to elude Mumbai Indians as skipper Hardik Pandya lamented the same recurring flaws — sloppy catching and another underwhelming batting effort — after their four-wicket defeat to Kolkata Knight Riders here on Wednesday.
Kolkata Knight Riders kept their faint playoff hopes alive with a clinical win in the low-scoring contest, moving to 13 points with one league game still remaining, while Mumbai Indians, already out of contention, were left to endure another disappointing outing in a forgettable campaign.
“Definitely as a batting group, we were 20 (runs) short. I think we lost a lot of wickets in powerplay, but if Tilak (Varma) and I would have stayed longer, and we had stitched a couple of more partnership and got those 15-20 runs, I think we would have had a decent chance,” said Pandya after the match.
“I think throughout the season, we’ve been quite poor in fielding. I think we have dropped a lot of catches, which obviously no one wants to do it. But in that part of the game, I think there is no hiding away. I think if you get chances, if you want to win games, you need to grab all the chances, even half chances as well. But yeah, when you drop chances which can change the game, it’s always you are chasing the game,” added the embattled Pandya.
He, however, praised the sporting nature of the pitch, saying it was refreshing to see a surface offering assistance to the bowlers at a time when the IPL had increasingly become heavily tilted in favour of the batters.
“To be very honest, I don’t mind playing on this sort of wickets where bowlers have something to do. I think IPL is becoming quite batting-dominated. Bowlers are feeling helpless.
“I think today’s game kind of gave bowlers something as well, which kind of makes them come and bowl some good balls, make batsmen play some good cricket and score runs. So, I kind of enjoyed it,” he said.
KKR batter Rovman Powell, who struck a match-winning 40 despite wickets tumbling regularly at the other end, said he felt comfortable from the outset as the surface resembled a typical West Indian pitch.
“I said it’s a typical Caribbean wicket. It might not be the wicket of the IPL where the ball is sliding onto the bat, but it’s a typical Caribbean wicket where it hold in the wicket a little bit.
“So I guess I would understand how to bat on it,” said Powell.
The West Indian said his plan was to keep targeting the shorter side of the ground, a tactic that paid rich dividends as he steered KKR home in a tense chase.
“I think the score tells you that all you need to do is to just get a start and once you get a start, you target the short side. It’s not one of those wickets where it’s placid, where it’s sliding onto the bat.
“But having said that, it’s good to contribute to a team win,” he said.
He said the team’s immediate focus was to play fearless and entertaining cricket in their final league game and then hope other results go their way in the race for the last playoff spot.
“You know, that’s the beauty of the game. It’s important for us to just keep on focusing on the last game. Not worried about qualifying, not qualifying. It’s just for us now to play good cricket in our last game and whatever happens, happens,” he added. PTI AM ATK
(This story is published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. No editing has been done in the headline or the body by ABP Live.)
