According to Mumbai’s head coach Mahela Jayawardene, batting is one of his team’s biggest areas of concern. During the match on Sunday, Lucknow Super Giants skipper KL Rahul took Lucknow to 168/6. MI got restricted to 132/8 after Krunal Pandya’s three-wicket haul saw MI being restricted to 132/8. At the post-match presentation ceremony, MI skipper Rohit Sharma expressed that it was the batting unit at fault.
Coach Jayawardene backed his skipper’s sentiments.
“I need to review this. I have to have a chat with the rest of the coaches. Batting has been a problem area. We have batter under par. We have problems, batting first or chasing,” Jayawardene said.
“In a tournament like this, bowling sides are controlling things. We have not hit our straps, and we are not taking early wickets. The (opposition) batsmen are scoring centuries against us,” he added.
Mumbai, headed by Rohit Sharma, headed into the game winless. The team elected to bowl first and kicked off a good start as they managed to restrict Lucknow Super Giants to 32 in the powerplay for one wicket.
The other batsmen found it tough to get going despite Rahul’s ton, as regular wickets kept the score in check. KL Rahul’s century, which is the second one against the Mumbai Indians this season, saw Lucknow Super Giants post 168. It was a chaseable score, as per skipper Rohit.
While Mumbai started steadily, putting up 49 off 43 for the opening stand, the team’s batsmen couldn’t pull through as wickets crumbled in the middle. Sharma and Tilak’s innings managed to keep the former champions in the match, but eventually succumbed to their eighth straight loss.
With their victory, the Lucknow Super Giants climbs to the fourth spot after winning five out of their eight games. The Mumbai Indians, the most successful IPL team, is left languishing at the bottom of the table without any points.
