Mumbai Indians head coach Mark Boucher complained that his side allowed Punjab Kings to get away with the match in the last five overs of the first innings in which they added 96 runs to take their tally to a match-winning 214 for 8. As answer, Mumbai Indians fell 13 runs short despite Cameron Green (67 from 43 balls), Suryakumar Yadav (57 from 26) and skipper Rohit Sharma (44 from 27) playing some fine strokes at Wankhede Stadium on Saturday.
“I thought the game was balanced. Surya’s was a big wicket, a few inches up or down and it probably would have gone for a boundary. He kept his nerve at the end, so well done to him. We batted well but they (PBKS) got too many runs which is disappointing because we controlled half of the game. We let it slip towards the end of our bowling (innings)” Boucher told the media after the victory of PBKS, formed by Arshdeep Singh’s four wicket haul.
“It was nice for Surya to get some points. The way he does it always looks spectacular. Form is a funny thing, sometimes you judge it by the numbers. He hits the ball very well in the nets. It was just a matter of time before it translated into runs,” he said.
Boucher said it’s frustrating when a side gets over 100 runs in their last five overs, saying that was the only reason the Mumbai Indians lost on Saturday night.
“We were in control until the 15th left and then they got 96 runs in the last five (overs). That’s some hitting. We got it wrong, and it’s frustrating because we dominated and when we lost, we lost unbelievably. big. We can put our finger on why we lost.” The South African supported Arjun Tendulkar, who scored 31 runs in the 15th over of PBKS’ innings. Arjun was the costliest MI bowler, conceding 48 runs in three overs against an economy of 16.
“I think Rohit, who is a very experienced cricketer, felt he would bowl Arjun on the 14th-15th left. That was a better match at that stage of the game. Sometimes they (decisions) go your way and sometimes they don’t. Unfortunately it didn’t go his way, and in hindsight sometimes the match-ups don’t work and that’s just the nature of T20 cricket,” he said.
“It will be difficult for him (Arjun) to come bowling at the back of Wankhede where the conditions were good to bat. He may have had one or two (deliveries) wrong, he probably felt under pressure but he will life and learn from it. It’s not the end of the world. It’s still not the first days but halfway through the IPL and hopefully he comes back stronger. He has the full support of the support staff and players to try and get here get over it as soon as possible,” Boucher added.
The MI coach said he was happy to see Jofra Archer make a comeback. “Jof bowled at a good pace, he wanted to land some yorkers but the wicket was good to hit through. For his first outing (after a short break) we’ll take it. Hopefully he won’t feel any pain tomorrow,” he said.
Punjab Kings wicketkeeper batsman Jitesh Sharma said his side was aware that MI’s long batting line-up was a threat despite Arshdeep Singh (4/29) landing a decisive blow to get rid of Suryakumar.
“Every wicket is very important in T20 cricket. Rohit Sharma’s wicket was crucial as was Ishan Kishan’s. Surya’s wicket was also very crucial at the time but we knew Tim David and the line-up and the kissing of an extra batter as an impact.” player, they could pull out all the stops. We couldn’t have been complacent or relaxed after Surya got out,” he said.
Jitesh added that PBKS regular captain Shikhar Dhawan is about to make a comeback. “Shikhar bhai is almost there, I think we can see him soon,” he said.
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