"We just weren't in the game in that first 10 overs in both innings. We got an early wicket today as well, the first over, but then they counter-punched and played some good shots and we just did not react well to that.
"I thought we had a good start but just couldn't continue. We lost those two wickets and then we had to consolidate a little bit and lost a bit of momentum there," Mumbai Indians head coach Mahela Jayawardena succulently summed up the match after his team went down to Royal Challengers Bengaluru by 12 runs in a thrilling Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 clash in Mumbai on Monday.
Left-arm spinner Krunal Pandya held his nerve to claim 4-17, including three wickets in a chaotic final over, after Virat Kohli (67 off 42) and skipper Rajat Patidar (64 off 32) slammed quickfire half-centuries to help RCB post a massive 221/5 in 20 overs. Jitesh Sharma blazed to a 19-ball unbeaten 40 while Devdutt Padikkal contributed a 22-ball 37.
In their chase of a stiff target, Mumbai Indians lost Rohit Sharma (17) and Ryan Rickelton (17) early and through Will Jacks (22) and Suryakumar Yadav (28) repaired the innings but the going was slow.
Tilak Varma hammered a 29-ball 56 and skipper Hardik Pandya slammed 42 off 15 balls to pull them close. But with 28 needed from 12 balls, Josh Hazlewood and Krunal Pandya pulled RCB to victory, with the latter claiming the wickets of Naman Dhir, Mitchell Santner, and Deepak Chahar in the final over.
Jaywardena, who avoided a question on Rohit Sharma's poor run, admitted that their performance in the power plays, with the bat and ball, is a matter of concern.
The power play is a concern for us with the ball and the bat. In the last few games as well where we were leaking too many runs with the ball in the power-play as well as we're not getting the starts and losing wickets. So that's especially at the Wankhede.
He said like in previous matches, they leaked 15-20 extra runs which proved decisive in the end. Royal Challengers Bengaluru captain Rajat Patidar, who was named Player of the Match, gave credit to his bowlers saying they showed courage against the rampaging batters.
It was a really amazing match. It was very hard. The way the bowlers have shown their courage was amazing to watch. This award goes to the bowling unit. It is not easy to stop any team, especially at this ground, and the way they have done it, was incredible. The way the fast bowlers executed their plans was amazing. The way KP (Krunal Pandya) bowled that last over, it was not easy and the way he bowled was amazing.
Brief Scores: Royal Challengers Bengaluru 221/5 in 20 overs (Virat Kohli 67, Rajat Patidar 64, Jitesh Sharma 40 not out; Hardik Pandya 2-45, Trent Boult 2-57) beat Mumbai Indians 209/9 in 20 overs (Tilak Varma 56, Hardik Pandya 42; Krunal Pandya 4-45, Yash Dayal 2-46, Josh Hazlewood 2-37) by 12 runs.
