'Don't Think We've Played Enough Good Cricket': Hardik Pandya Rues Batting Failure After 9th Defeat of IPL 2024

After getting knocked out from the IPL 2024 playoffs race, Mumbai Indians are hoping to end their campaign on a high but Kolkata Knight Riders denied them that opportunity on Saturday night. KKR defeated the five-time champions by 18 runs in a rain-curtailed game, which was reduced to 16-over aside, at Eden Gardens.

MI were tasked to chase 158 in 16 overs but the big guns misfired once again.

Rohit Sharma huffed and puffed to 19 runs off 24 balls while Surykumar Yadav accumulated 11 off 14. Skipper Hardik Pandya (2 off 4) succumbed under pressure whereas Tim David secured a 3-ball duck.

The visitors did start their innings with Ishan Kishan’s blazing knock but KKR’s spin twins Sunil Narine and Varun Chakaravarthy derailed their run-chase.

After the loss, Pandya admitted that his batting unit didn’t deliver as expected, eventually losing the momentum.

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“As a batting unit, the foundation was there but we could not capitalise after that and keep the momentum up. The wicket was a little up and down and a little tacky so momentum was very important. I think it was a par score, given the conditions, felt that the bowlers did well. Every ball that came back from the boundary came back wet. The bowlers made sure they kept taking wickets,” Pandya said at the post-match presentation.

MI will head back home and have a long gap before signing off from the season. They face Lucknow Super Giants next Friday and Pandya wants his teammates to play good cricket – something which has been missing this season.

“Just to go and enjoy as much as we can and play good cricket, that’s been my motto from the start. I don’t think we’ve played enough good cricket this season,” Pandya concluded.

Two-time winners KKR thus sealed their last-four berth with two rounds to spare, consolidating their place atop the 10-team standing with 18 points. This is the first time since 2021 that KKR have made the playoffs. They will now look to push for a top-two finish, taking on Gujarat Titans on Monday and Royal Challengers Bengaluru on May 19 in their last two league matches.