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MUMBAI — Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya picked up his dismissal as the turning point as Mumbai Indians slumped to a six-wicket defeat to Rajasthan Royals on a pitch that offered assistance to bowlers in Match 14 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Wankhede Stadium on Monday.
After Trent Boult had claimed Rohit Sharma, Naman Dhir and Dewald Brevis for first-ball ducks and Nandre Burger and sent back Ishan Kishan (16) to reduce Mumbai Indians to 20/4 in the fourth over, Pandya and Tilak Varma raised 56 runs for the fourth wicket to take the five-time champions to 76/4 before he got out, trying to play a big shot off Chahal. Pandya scored 34 off 21 while Tilak Varma added 32 off 29. Mumbai Indians again lost wickets in a heap and could eventually manage a paltry 125/9 in 20 overs.
Riyan Parag struck the lone half-century of the match, an unbeaten 54 off 39 balls that helped Rajasthan Royals recover from a difficult position of 48/3 to reach 127/4 in 15.3 overs to seal a six-wicket victory with 27 balls to spare.
Pandya, who was repeatedly booed by the home fans on Monday, said his wicket changed the game and said he could have done better.
"We didn't start the way we wanted to, tough night tonight. (On his innings) I think we were in a decent position to give us a chance to get to 150 or 160 but I think my wicket changed the game and brought them more in the game and I think I could have done better," said Pandya during the post-match presentation.
Pandya said it was unexpected to see the pitch providing so much assistance to the bowlers early on but added that it was good to see the bowlers get something from the wicket.
"It's good to have something for the bowlers as well. The game is quite cruel to the bowlers. But it was unexpected," he added.
Despite the defeat, Pandya said the team believes that it can still recover and put the campaign back on the rails. He said they will have to be more disciplined and show more courage for that to happen.
"It's all about doing the right things. Results, sometimes it happens it doesn't. I don't think it surprises me anymore. But as a group, we believe we can pull off a lot of better things going forward and we just need to be more disciplined and show more courage," Pandya added.
The Mumbai Indians skipper will be hoping that things come together for his team in their next match on April 7 at the same Wankhede Stadium.