Despite the narrow loss in the opener, Mumbai Indians coach Mahela Jayawardene is satisfied with the team’s performance. The veteran feels the franchise had a good outing, till the 17th over of the second innings, before Dwayne Bravo went berserk.
“I am not surprised by Bravo. I thought we bowled well up until the last three overs. If a batsman gets into the rhythm in T20 cricket, it is difficult to stop him,” said Jayawardene.
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Mayank Markande, the leggie from Punjab, turned out to be the surprise element of the game. The 20-year-old claimed three wickets including that of Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Ambati Rayudu, and almost won the game for the host.
“When we saw him at the camp, we knew he was special. We backed our youngsters and he bowled really well. He has accuracy, variations and a great attitude. You definitely need experience, but you also need the energy of the youngsters,” he added.
The coach also praised Suryakumar Yadav for a mature hand in the middle order. “He guided Ishan Kishan with all his experience.”
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Having played the IPL, Jayawardene understands the nature of the tournament and believes it is too early to predict ups and downs. “This is the nature of the beast. You can start nervous but to have a game like this upfront is great. There were many positives. The boys know the areas they need to work but the way we executed our plans against some of their batsmen were great. It was a close game, after all,” he concluded.
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