IPL 2022: Mumbai Indians are missing killer instinct

MI’s Ishan Kishan is clean bowled by CSK’s Mukesh Choudhary on Thursday. Pic/BCCI; IPL

Five-time champions Mumbai Indians need to stop committing little errors and develop instincts to finish off close games, said the team's head coach Mahela Jayawardene after MI's heart-stopping last-ball, three-wicket loss to defending IPL champions Chennai Super Kings on Thursday at the DY Patil Stadium. MI fought tooth and nail in defending the small total of 155-7, but were beaten to the tape by the well-known and oft-witnessed finishing prowess of former India and CSK skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

The Super Kings needed 17 in the last over and 16 in the last four balls when Dhoni, who made 28 not out off 13 balls with three fours and a six, got the strike from Dwayne Bravo. The wicketkeeper-batter kept his cool as only he can and smacked left-arm pacer Jaydev Unadkat for a straight field six, followed by a four, two runs and then the winning boundary off the last ball to close out the game in thrilling fashion.

Dismal record

This was the seventh successive defeat for MI in as many matches this season, a dismal first-ever record in the T20 tourney, and has virtually finished their play-off hopes while the Super Kings, also struggling, won their second match out of seven played. "[It's a] tough loss. The guys fought really well. We just need to have the instinct to finish the game off. We were making mistakes even today. We knew the wicket was going to be tough [to bat on]. We needed to get through those six overs, set up a par score," former Sri Lanka skipper Jayawardene said in his post-match presser.

Ex-Mumbai Ranji Trophy captain Shishir Hattangadi reviews MI's loss

"Our bowlers bowled brilliantly, executed plans well, but the experience of MS [Dhoni] at the end closed the game for them. These are the small margins we need to get over. The last two games as well, we had opportunities missed. We need to keep fighting. That's the message. The boys understand that and they need to execute out there in the middle," added Jayawardene, who came to the defence of under-performing openers, skipper Rohit Sharma and wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan, who fell for individual ducks in the first over of the match bowled by CSK's left-arm swing bowler Mukesh Choudhary.

‘Rohit's hitting the ball well'

"[The duo's batting has been] a bit up and down, to be honest. Ishan batted really well in the first couple of games, and then [there was] a bit of a slide. Ro [Rohit] has been hitting the ball really well, gets good starts, 15-20 runs, looks good and then isn't being able to convert. Both have been batting well out in the middle and in the nets. You need to back their ability and confidence. These are guys who have played a lot of IPL cricket, understand what needs to be done and you just need to get in every day, work hard, go through the processes and it will turn around," the MI head coach added.