Mahela Jayawardene in action during an IPL match
Jaipur: Apr 25, 2011
Kochi Tuskers Kerala skipper Mahela Jayawardene blamed his batsmen for putting up a sloppy show and said his team failed to adapt to the conditions at the Sawai Mansingh stadium on Sunday.
The tuskers succumbed to a eight-wicket defeat to see their three-game winning streak snapped and Jayawardene said it was just a bad day in office and hoped his team will bounce back in the days to come.
“It was going to be a tough task with the dew, we needed another 20-30 runs more, we didn’t bat well and they bowled well up front,” the Sri Lankan said after the match.
“We needed to take wickets and not give them momentum.
Rahul and Watson showed their experience and played really well. We tried our best. We didn’t had a good day in the office. Hopefully we will come back.
“After the start we had, I thought 120-130 was a good score, but we couldn’t execute, but plenty to learn from this.
We have to adapt to good conditions. It is a close table this time around, everything is beating each other, we need to keep focus and we can be top of the table again,” he added.
Rajasthan Royals captain Shane Warne expressed satisfaction at his team’s performance and said his boys showed a lot of character to bounce back.
“Our intensity was very good from ball one, the boys showed a lot of character, we had a good record at home and it was a satisfying win,” the Australian said.
“They worked pretty hard, back room staff also were always working with them. We had a few hiccups in the last few games but we bounced back in emphatic style,” he added.
Asked about all-rounder Shane Watson, who scored a 40-ball 49, including four fours and two sixes, Warne said he is one of the best in the business at present.
“Watson is such a super player, arguably the best player in the world at moment, especially any form of the game, he is so destructive and his bowling is also coming good,” he said.
The Royals jumped to the second spot in the points table after their win over the Tuskers and Warne said it would be important to keep the momentum in the business end of the tournament to enter the knock-out stage.
“We don’t look too much at the table, we are still at the halfway stage. It’s important to get some victories and momentum going in the final stages. We have four-five days off now, looking forward to that,” said Warne, who was adjudged as the Man of the Match for his three-wicket haul.
Watson said the track was two-paced and it helped the bowlers.
“I was scratchy to start with, it was nice to hit a few big boundaries towards the end. It is normally a good wicket here, but it was a bit two-paced, and good for the bowling side. I love opening, but will bat wherever Warnie wants me to,” he said.
News © PTI
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