New Delhi, April 4 – Mumbai Indians (MI) stand-in captain Suryakumar Yadav admitted that his team was 15-20 runs short with the bat, which led to their defeat against Delhi Capitals (DC) by six wickets at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Saturday.
On a slow pitch where shot-making was difficult, Suryakumar scored 51 as MI managed to score 162/6. However, DC successfully chased the target as the pitch improved under lights, with Sameer Rizvi scoring a brilliant 90.
"I think it was a decent wicket. We expected it to be a little slower, but even then, from a batting perspective, we were a bit short, 15-20 runs, but I don't want to take any credit away from their bowlers, and they also batted really well in the second innings," Suryakumar said after the match ended.
On Rizvi's second consecutive fifty in the competition, Suryakumar said, "Absolutely, I mean, when someone like him comes in at 7 for 2 and bats the way he did, a lot of credit goes to him. He never allowed us to gain control of the game."
Suryakumar felt that the pitch remained largely unchanged across both innings, but credited the opposition for understanding the conditions better. "I think it was quite similar. It didn't change much, but the way they batted, I think they batted very well. They understood the conditions very well in the second innings and batted beautifully," he said.
Suryakumar also said that MI had targeted a score of 180-185, but fell short of achieving it. "We felt that 180-185 was a good score. We fell short by 15-20 runs. I think Naman and I, we both got out at the wrong time during the 16th and 18th overs, otherwise we would have at least achieved that score," he said.
Despite the setback, the captain remained optimistic, as MI now travel to Guwahati to take on the Rajasthan Royals on Tuesday. "There will be days like this when you try, and it won't work, but we will go back to the drawing board, work hard, and come back stronger in the next game," he said.