‘Let it slip towards the end of our bowling’ - Mumbai Indians head coach Mark Boucher on team's loss against Punjab Kings

The 31st game of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 featured a thrilling clash between the five-time champions Mumbai Indians and the Sam Curran-led Punjab Kings at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday, April 22.

Coming in to bat first after losing the toss, Punjab Kings notched up a whopping 214 runs on the board after fabulous knocks by Sam Curran, Harpreet Singh Bhatia, and Jitesh Sharma. Curran amassed 55 runs in 29 deliveries, Harpreet scored 41 runs in 28 balls, whereas Sharma played a blitzkrieg knock of 25 runs in just seven balls.

Coming in to chase the target, the hosts got very close as Rohit Sharma, Cameron Green, Suryakumar Yadav, and Tim David played resilient innings. However, the knocks proved to be in vain, as Punjab ultimately won the game by 13 runs, thanks to a brilliant final over by Arshdeep Singh.

Talking about the team’s performance in the post-match press conference, Mumbai head coach Mark Boucher gave his take, saying

"I thought the game was in the balance. I thought we batted really well tonight. Maybe they did get too many runs, which is disappointing. Because I think that, overall, if I look at the game, we had control for some percentage of the game, but let it slip towards the end of our bowling."

It's always nice for Suryakumar Yadav to get some runs: Boucher

One of the highlights of Mumbai’s game was the performance of star Indian batter Suryakumar Yadav. After consistent poor showings at the IPL 2023, Suryakumar finally came through and played a fabulous knock against Punjab Kings, scoring 57 runs in 26 balls.

Talking about the same, Boucher said, "It's always nice for Suryakumar Yadav to get some runs. His form is a funny thing, as sometimes you judge it by the numbers. He's been hitting the ball really well in the nets, and it was just a matter of time before he translated that into runs. So, I'm very happy for him."

"He'll feel very comfortable. For Mumbai Indians, having him in some good form, hitting the ball so sweetly, and playing the sort of devastating innings he did tonight, bodes well for the future for us going forward," he added.