Mumbai Indians (MI) skipper Hardik Pandya expressed disappointment after his team’s 18-run loss to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Saturday. Pandya acknowledged that MI failed to capitalize on the momentum provided by openers Ishan Kishan and Rohit Sharma on a challenging wicket.
“As a batting unit, the foundation was there, but we could not capitalize after that and keep the momentum up,” Pandya said at the post-match presentation. “The wicket was a little up and down and a little tacky, so momentum was very important.”
KKR became the first team to qualify for the IPL playoffs with the victory. Venkatesh Iyer’s solid knock of 42 off 21 balls and Andre Russell’s all-round performance, including 24 runs off 14 balls and two wickets, played a crucial role in their success.
Pandya praised the KKR bowlers for their performance, noting that the wet conditions made it difficult for the batsmen. “Every ball that came back from the boundary came back wet,” he said. “The bowlers made sure they kept taking wickets.”
Despite the loss, Pandya remained optimistic about MI’s remaining matches. “Nothing, just to go and enjoy as much as we can and play good cricket, that’s been my motto from the start,” he said. “I do not think we have played enough good cricket this season.”
In the match, KKR opted to bat first after winning the toss. Despite losing early wickets, they managed to post a competitive total of 157/7 in 16 overs, thanks to contributions from Iyer, Nitish Rana, Russell, and Rinku Singh.
MI’s chase got off to a promising start with Kishan and Sharma putting on a 65-run opening stand. However, KKR’s bowlers tightened their grip, restricting the run flow and taking wickets. Tilak Varma and Naman Dhir fought back with valuable knocks, but MI ultimately fell short by 18 runs.
Varun Chakravarthy was the standout bowler for KKR, claiming 2/17. Russell and Harshit Rana also chipped in with two wickets each.
