Abu Dhabi : Suryakumar Yadav’s blistering knock pushed them out of the contest said Royal Challengers Bangalore head coach Simon Katich as his side lost to Mumbai Indians by five wickets.
After restricting RCB to 164/6, courtesy effective death bowling led by lead pacer Jasprit Bumrah, Mumbai Indians rode on blistering unbeaten 79 off 43 balls by Suryakumar to overhaul the target on Wednesday.
“He (Surya) is a very good player, he has had a good tournament and today he was the difference, getting that score and scoring as quickly as he did. (He) put (Yuzvedra) Chahal under pressure, with some good boundaries and sixes,” Katich said at the post match press conference.
“…there was period there (when they) were 3-70 and we looked like we were getting on top but then Suryakumar played a magnificent innings and got the momentum back in their favour pretty quickly after they lost that third wicket and then it was difficult for us to get back into the game,” the head coach said.
Katich they were looking around a total around 180 after a good start but the loss of four wickets in a space of 13 balls changed the complexion of their innings.
“Mumbai outplayed us when it mattered the most. We did a lot of things well today. The big positive was the two youngsters at the top, (Devdutt) Padikkal and (Josh) Phillipe, got us off to a great start and one stage it looked we are going to get well on top with the bat, but young Josh got stumped, and then it slowed down after that a little bit with the wicket,” he added.
“We looked like we were well set with five overs to go, and unfortunately lost four wickets in about 13 balls, so from batting point of view, we felt we were on track to get around 180, which could have been a competitive score, but in the end, 164 wasn’t enough and Mumbai deserve the result,” the former Australian player added.
He said the same was the case with bowling, when they failed to grab their chances after Mumbai were three-down.
“And same with the ball, we did a lot of things well to get them into position where they needed 100 off 60 balls, three down, but we didn’t grab our chances. After the third wicket fell we let some runs in next couple of overs and Mumbai got back into the game. It was a disappointing result but we will bounce back in Sharjah,” the head coach said. (AGENCIES)