Mumbai Indians slumped to yet another defeat against Chennai Super Kings in an IPL match on Saturday. The five-time champions are yet to find a fix and bounce back to winning ways this season.
MI posted 159 for 7 with Naman Dhir top-scoring with 57 runs as CSK chased down the target in 18.1 overs to move to eight points from nine games and keep their playoff hopes alive. MI on the other hand with four points after seven defeats in nine matches are sitting ninth on the points table.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya conceded that this is “not the season,” where neither their batting nor bowling clicked.
“They (CSK) played better, they bowled better, they fielded better and they batted better,” he added.
He added that a total in the 180-190 range may have given them a chance, while admitting CSK were superior with both bat and ball on the day.
“(A score of) 180-190 should have been a good total. We couldn’t get the momentum. It was more about playing calculative cricket. Overall, as a bowling unit, they were better and as a batting unit, we weren’t better. The bowling options which we had, we went with it,” he said.
Asked if his bowlers needed to be more aggressive defending a modest total, he said, “I don’t know what aggressive we would have been. I think we would have had to throw some fireballs to get them out. But, yeah, it was, the bowling option which we had, we went with it and they just played smart cricket. And yeah, they were better.”
Player of the Match Ruturaj Gaikwad also admitted that Mumbai being 20-30 runs short made the run chase lot easier.
“We started well, then they got momentum. We pulled it back after powerplay and were chasing 20-30 runs less. It was about getting a good start and then one of the batters had to go deep,” said Gaikwad, who scored an unbeaten 67.
“Feels good to bat till the end. I was always feeling confident. But in T20s you can hit good shots straight to fielders. But my team-mates and management made sure I was feeling well. I wanted to make sure to take the team to the end if I got a start,” he added.
