Jayawardene expresses Powerplay concerns after RCB loss with Mumbai Indians languishing towards the bottom of the table.
Jayawardene, the head coach of the Mumbai Indians has pointed out his side’s under-par performance in the powerplay as the reason for losing 4 games out of 5.
MI have been struggling to put up good scores in the powerplay, with the opening partnership of Rohit and Rickleton not reaping dividends. In last nights defeat to RCB, both openers departed within the first 6 overs. They have lost 10 wickets in the first 6 overs while batting, second only to the Sunrisers (12).
Even with the ball, the 5-time champions have leaked runs in the first 6 overs. With an economy of 10.36, they are the most expensive side in the first six overs while bowling. This is not a good sign for a bowling attack that has two elite powerplay bowlers in Boult and Chahar.
Jayawardene has urged his side to pick their act up quickly, imploring them to rediscover their ruthless side quickly.
“The powerplay is a concern for us with the ball and the bat. In the last few games as well, we were leaking too many runs with the ball in the powerplay as well,” Jayawardene said after the match. “We got an early wicket today as well – first over – but then they counter-punched, played some good shots, and we just did not react well to that. These are the margins and then they had a big sixth over, which really hurt us in that powerplay.”
“With the bat as well, I thought we had a good start but just couldn’t continue,” Jayawardene said. “We lost those two wickets and then we had to consolidate a little bit and lost a bit of momentum there. We had a few big overs in between but we just weren’t in the game in that first ten overs. The margins are small in this competition and we’re not hitting our strides and that is a concern.”
However, Jayawardene has not pressed any panic buttons of yet. He believes that the side is still playing some good cricket, and no changes are needed just yet.
“I still back the senior pros and all the guys I put out there. They have the skill. It’s just that we need to be a bit more ruthless,” he said. “At times, we’re missing out on those one or two overs where we lose our discipline. So that’s with the bat as well as with the ball. That’s something that we need to rectify.”