'We haven't played enough good cricket' - Hardik Pandya speaks about MI's dismal season, analyses defeat vs KKR

Hardik Pandya-led Mumbai Indians (MI) suffered an 18-run defeat in a rain-curtailed encounter against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the iconic Eden Gardens on Saturday, May 11.

Chasing 158 runs in the 16-over-per-side contest, Mumbai got off to a rapid start on the back of Ishan Kishan's 22-ball 40. He added 65 runs alongside Rohit Sharma at the top. However, since that partnership ended, the visitors lost wickets at regular intervals as the KKR spin duo of Varun Chakaravarthy (2/17) and Sunil Narine (1/21) choked the flow of runs. Harshit Rana and Andre Russell were expensive but they bagged two wickets apiece. Eventually, the five-time champions were restricted to 139/8.

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After suffering his ninth loss as MI captain this season, Hardik admitted that his team hasn't been able to play good cricket throughout the campaign. Speaking about the match, he said that the wicket was tacky and the effort from the bowlers was good. However, the batting let them down after a good start.

“As a batting unit, the foundation was there, but we could not capitalise and that cost us. The wicket was tacky, so momentum was important, but after that we couldn't capitalise,” Hardik said after the match.

“Their score was par, given the conditions I thought the bowlers did well. When the balls returned from the boundary, it hit the cover and was wet. They did well. It seemed par but was a winning total. Just want to go and enjoy, play good cricket. That's been the motto from the start but we haven't played enough good cricket,” Hardik added.

After a rain delay at the start, the match was reduced to 16 overs per side. Hardik won the toss and invited the hosts to bat first. The new-ball duo of Nuwan Thushara and Jasprit Bumrah dislodged KKR's in-form opening duo of Phil Salt and Sunil Narine in the first couple of overs. KKR captain Shreyas Iyer was also dismissed cheaply. However, Venkatesh Iyer played a fluent 42-run knock off 21 balls to keep the run-rate healthy. The likes of Nitish Rana, Andre Russell, Rinku Singh, and Ramandeep Singh played handy knocks as the Knights finished on 157/7.

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With this win, KKR became the first side to qualify for the playoffs. They are also guaranteed a top-two finish and will get two chances to reach the finals.