IPL 2017: Parthiv Patel admits that early wickets dented MI's chase

What's the story?

Parthiv Patel, who single-handedly led his side’s Chase in the qualifier against Rising Pune Supergiant in the match at Wankhede, confessed that Mumbai Indians lost too many wickets within the first few overs to stay put in the contest.

Patel, however, was adamant that Dhoni's cameo in the last two overs was not responsible for Mumbai's loss. Bumrah and McClenaghan conceded 41 in the final two overs with MS Dhoni slamming four sixes to take Pune from a mediocre total to a par one. Patel was also confident that team selection (omission of Harbhajan Singh) did not play a role in the loss.

“These kinds of things can happen in this format when someone like Dhoni is batting. Obviously, we were in control but I won’t say because of those two overs we lost the game", Patel said as revealed by the Hindustan Times.

“You can look at it in both ways but looking at all the right-handers (in the opposition camp) team management took the decision of going with two bowlers who will take balls away from the batsman,” Patel said of Mumbai's decision to play Karn Sharma and Krunal Pandya ahead of the veteran Harbhajan Singh.

In case you didn't know...

Mumbai were reduced to 51/4 in 8 overs in their run chase after the young offie, Washington Sundar, got rid of Rohit Sharma, Ambati Rayudu and Kieron Pollard in the space of two overs. Patel waged a lone battle and smacked a 37-ball half-century but kept losing partners at the other end.

He was eventually dismissed at long-on off the bowling of Shardul Thakur which sealed the game for Pune. Mumbai aren't out of the tournament yet and could still make it to the finals of they win the Qualifier 2 in Bengaluru.

Heart of the story

Parthiv Patel defended Mumbai's decision to play Karn Sharma and Krunal Pandya while admitting that the early loss of too many wickets contributed to their loss in the qualifier game against Rising Pune Supergiant at the Wankhede yesterday.

The wicket-keeper batsman was, however, confident that the last two overs of the Pune innings weren't responsible for the loss. He reasoned that in T20s with a player like Dhoni at the crease, 41 runs off two overs can happen even if the best in the business bowl.

Mumbai's premier seamers, Jasprit Bumrah and Mitchell McClenaghan bowled the last two overs but Dhoni was in a rampant mood, smacking the duo for four sixes in the space of nine balls to lift Pune to a challenging total.

Mumbai were expected to chase down the target despite the pitch behaving slow but lost their way early in the chase with Sundar picking up three wickets in two overs. None of the Mumbai batsmen, save Patel, fought it out and in the end, the task was too uphill even for the settled opener.

What's next?

Mumbai will still get a chance to make it to the finals and avenge their defeat against the Rising Pune Supergiant if they can win the Qualifier 2 in Bengaluru. The match will be played between Mumbai and the winner of the eliminator at Chinnaswamy stadium today. Kolkata Knight Riders take on Sunrisers Hyderabad in the eliminator.

Author’s take

Parthiv Patel is spot on with his assessment that the loss of early wickets was responsible for Mumbai's defeat. The middle-order had saved them time and again but against a slew of clever slow bowlers in the Pune side and on a sluggish wicket, the target kept moving further.

Harbhajan Singh's omission was also justified given the fact that Pune have no left-handers in their top 6. Besides, Karn Sharma had been effective with his leggies and Krunal Pandya is an all-rounder capable of keeping things quiet from one end.