Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya admitted they lost the momentum at the fag end of the run-chase against Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Sunday after their six-run loss. MI needed 43 runs in the last five overs to chase down the run-chase of 169 but veered off the track.

After 12.1 overs, MI was 107-3 but they kept losing wickets at regular intervals. A well-settled Dewald Brevis was caught and bowled by Mohit Sharma whereas Tim David, Hardik Pandya, and Tilak Varma could not get the job done.

Hardik Pandya said in the post-match presentation, “Obviously we backed ourselves to chase those 42 runs but it was one of those days when we see the score quite less compared to what it could have been in five overs, I think we lost little bit of momentum there. It feels good to be back because this is one stadium where you can enjoy and feel the atmosphere quite lively and obviously the crowd was full and they got a good game as well.

In fact, MI adopted a strange strategy as Tilak Varma turned down a single to keep Tim David off strike against Rashid Khan.

Commenting on this, Pandya said, “I think Tilak felt that that was a better idea at that point of time, I completely back him, not an issue, 13 games to go.”

Mumbai Indians should have chased down the target but their batters could not deliver in the end despite being in a shoo-in position. Rohit Sharma and Dewald Brevis scored 43 and 46 runs respectively but they could not get their team over the line.

GT came up with a collective bowling effort as Umesh Yadav, Mohit Sharma, Azmatullah Omarzai, and Spencer Johnson bagged two wickets each. Furthermore, Rashid Khan and Sai Kishore bowled economical spells as the duo collectively conceded 47 runs in the eight overs they bowled.

Mumbai Indians will next take on Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad on Wednesday.