Mohali: Disappointed at his side’s fifth loss in six matches in the IPL, Kings XI Punjab’s Australian import Glenn Maxwell minced no words and said that ordinary bowling and fielding let the team down.
“We are giving opposition a lot of chances whereas we are not getting those chances, which is probably the reason we are at the bottom at the moment,” Maxwell said at the post-match press conference after Punjab lost to Mumbai Indians by 25 runs.
Parthiv Patel (81) and Ambati Rayudu (65) wove a 137 run-partnership to help Mumbai set a target of 190 for Kings XI to win.
Maxwell top-scored with a 56 off 39 balls, while Shaun Marsh (45 off 34 balls) and skipper David Miller (30 not out off 17 balls) were the other main contributors as Punjab fell short by 25 runs chasing the target.
But Maxwell rued the mistakes Punjab committed against Mumbai, which he said cost them the game.
“We had Parthiv [Patel] a couple of times but there was a no ball and the stumping was a little bit too slow. We gave too many chances on the field. We bowled a no-ball to get the wicket and that player [Parthiv] went on to get 80. So that is a pretty big difference as he was struggling at that stage and had probably 28 or 30,” Maxwell said.
“Later he gets away and gets a second life and then he is able to play his natural game. We did the same thing for Rayudu. He gets dropped and that opened up the game. Again, he’s able to play his free natural flowing game, hits a couple of sixes and puts us back under pressure,” he said.
Mitchell Johnson had left-handed Parthiv caught in the sixth over, but the Mumbai opener got a new lease of life as it turned out to be a no ball. Rayudu was dropped by Axar Patel of Pradeep Sahu in the ninth over when he was batting on 33.
