"We just couldn't do that': MI coach Mahela Jayawardene lists reason for defeat to PBKS

Time of India

2 days ago

Mumbai Indians head coach
acknowledged that fielding errors and poor bowling execution led to their elimination from IPL 2025 after losing to Punjab Kings by five wickets in Qualifier 2 on Sunday night.
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Despite posting a competitive total of 203 for 6, Mumbai Indians couldn't prevent Punjab Kings from successfully chasing down the target, majorly owed to captain Shreyas Iyer's unbeaten 87.
Stretching past midnight, the match saw Mumbai Indians fail in their pursuit of a record sixth IPL title.
Reacting to the defeat, Jayawardene started out by listing positives despite falling short of the prize. "It was a good campaign for us, the way we started and how we regrouped as a team and played some really, really good cricket," Jayawardene said in the post-match press conference.
"We had our opportunities getting to the playoffs, and we had a really good game first half and even today, I thought we played some good cricket except for Kings playing better cricket than us.
Especially with the bat, they were solid, especially chasing 200. It's not that easy, they executed that pretty well."
Jayawardene highlighted two dropped catches as crucial moments in the game, though he acknowledged that fortune had favoured them in previous matches.
"We made a few blunders obviously with those two catches but I think that's how the game goes, we had those luck going our way in the previous games. It was a good game of cricket and we came short, I think that's as simple as that," he explained.
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The match turned decisively in Punjab Kings' favor after the tenth over, with 106 runs needed from 60 balls. While MI appeared to be on the front foot, an 84-run partnership between Iyer and Nehal Wadhera off 47 balls proved decisive.
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"In phases, they batted well," Jayawardene said. "We also came back and took the wickets and were in it, which is that middle phase, we just couldn't control that after the tenth over. Those four-five overs, we just couldn't keep the pressure going, and that's where especially Nehal and Shreyas, their partnership probably took the game away from us."
The Mumbai Indians' strategy of taking pace off the ball and bowling yorkers, which had served them well throughout the season, failed to yield results in this crucial match.
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"We also took some pace off, but like I said earlier, our execution wasn't up to the mark, we have to take that [blame]. Even we bowled pretty good yorkers throughout the campaign and we just couldn't get those yorkers going as well [today]," Jayawardene admitted. "So it's just execution and that can happen and they put us under pressure as well, so when they hit those vital blows in that middle phase, especially those sixes, that's something that we need to stop in this kind of situation, but we just couldn't do that.
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With the result, PBKS will play Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the final at Narendra Modi Stadium on Tuesday. PBKS will aim to put an end to their trophy drought in the competition, while RCB too, are yet to win a trophy in its history.