Mumbai Indians (MI) head coach Mahela Jayawardene said that his team did not execute their plans against Rajasthan Royals (RR) in a rain-shortened match in the continued Indian Premier League (IPL) on Tuesday. He also shared that MI missed their line and length, while the opposition used the conditions and batted well. Sensational bowling from the trio of Nandre Burger, Sandeep Sharma, and Ravi Bishnoi, and stunning knocks from Yashasvi Jaiswal and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi helped RR beat MI by 27 runs in a curtailed match to make it a hat-trick of wins in IPL 2026 up to now.
“We had some plans, but I don’t think we executed those. The margins are very small. These guys are practising very well. We knew the danger, especially when it’s rain-curtailed, and so they have the license to go up front. I believe we missed our line and lengths, and so they played very well,” said Jayawardene.
Put to bat first, RR scored 150/3 in 11 overs, with Jaiswal (77* in 32 balls, with 10 fours and 4 sixes) and Suryavanshi (39 in 14 balls, with a 4 and five sixes) as well. Within the run-chase, MI couldn’t do well and lost wickets commonly, with Burger (2/21), Sandeep (2/25) and Bishnoi (2/26) did exceptionally well.
In the course of the run chase, the Mumbai Indians got off to a poor start as they lost Ryan Rickelton (8) to Jofra Archer, Suryakumar Yadav (6) to Nandre Burger and Rohit Sharma to Sandeep Sharma for a mere five, reducing MI to 22/3 in 4.3 overs as well.
“We just needed a few partnerships. We lost just a few early wickets and lost the momentum. If you happen to take a look at the tip, the difference was 4 sixes. It was 4 hits for us, [but] we just couldn’t find that.” Jayawardene said.
“And that without us entering into a rhythm or someone getting a fast 30 or 40 up top. We never thought that it was out of our reach. So, those were the margins. I believe they played a very good game today. We weren’t adequate, and that’s what we’ve got to work on,” concluded Jayawardene.
Get the newest cricket news here, like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter and Instagram for more such updates.